See the complete Critics Choice Awards 2026 winners list. Timothée Chalamet, Jessie Buckley, Jacob Elordi & top film and TV performances honored.
If you caught the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards 2026 on January 4, you saw that the atmosphere at the Barker Hangar was not just about bright lights and glamour. For the fourth year in a row, the night was hosted by Chelsea Handler and it seemed less like a celebratory back slap and more like a nod to hard work.
Whether it was 12-hour makeup sessions or five-minute television episodes, the winners this year didn’t only act, they suffered. The message from the Critics Choice Association (CCA) was loud and clear: in 2026, the line between technical risk and extraordinary physical commitment is where the industry’s attention lies.
(Best Actor Winner)
The weepy Timothée Chalamet as Brooding Heartthrob, Desert Messiah in Dune is not who Marty Supreme is at all, he’s fully reimagined himself. Chalamet Won Best Actor for portraying a 1950s ping-pong wunderkind based on the real life Marty Reisman.
But this was about more than whacking a ball back and forth. He was described as having a “singularly enervating intensity”. Marty was not a sportsman, but a hustler—a guy who could talk some unbeatable nonsense, who could pair swagger with geeky glasses, and who was so engulfed in his need to win that he was willing to try anything. It was a kinetic, fizzy, electrified turn, the kind that reassures you he can fill a film with their souls alone, and in pure physical comedy.
(Best Actress Winner)
If Chalamet delivered the energy, Jessie Buckley delivered the tears. Taking home Best Actress for her portrayal of Agnes (Shakespeare’s wife) in Hamnet, Buckley gave what could be the most gut-wrenching performance of the year.
The storyline deals with the loss of her child, Hamnet, and the sorrows that led to Hamlet. Buckley’s performance was said to be “a privilege to watch.” She never merely portrayed a historical figure; she captured the raw, earth-shattering agony of a mother fighting to keep her life intact. It was a quiet, powerful turn that stood out against flashier roles, proving that sometimes the loudest emotions are the ones spoken in whispers.
(Best Supporting Actor Winner)
Jacob Elordi is now officially more than just a teen heartthrob. Awarded Best Supporting Actor for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi achieved the impossible: he brought us to tears over a monster.1 His role wasn’t about scary make-up or snarling. He reputedly studied Butoh (a Japanese “dance of darkness”) in order to capture the creature’s motions, make such a physicality that was at once a terrifying and sincerely moving figure.
He portrayed the Monster not as a villain, but as an acting soul imprisoned in a grotesque body, one who was turned away from by his maker. It was a “physical” act- ing, in the widest sense — using his back, his shoulders and his eyes as well as his voice.
(Best Supporting Actress Winner)
The lack of appreciation for horror at awards shows makes Amy Madigan’s victory for Best Supporting Actress all the more gratifying. In the surprise hit Weapons as Aunt Gladys, a figure who immediately became a horror icon.
Madigan, a 75-year-old seasoned actress, said she was astonished by the win, she thought people would just “dig” the movie – not fall in love with “terrifying” her character. She teetered between a kooky, eccentric senior citizen and a predatory natural force. To be the most frightening person at the party and be so hypnotically watchable is a rare achievement, and the reviews strongly confirmed that.
We may as well not speak of winners without mentioning the night’s biggest—err, biggest champion? Paul Thomas Anderson won both Best Picture and Best Director for One Battle After Another.
The film is densely plotted, an “exquisitely detailed fantasy” about former revolutionaries meeting to rescue a daughter. It’s political and personal and very, very complex – and well, that’s just what the critics called the masterpiece of resistance and hope. I mean it’s not just the one actor here, it’s a conductor (Anderson) behind the wheel of an orchestra of stellar performers (including Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor) who create the best film of the year.
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| Category | Winner | Show | Key Context |
| Best Drama | The Pitt | HBO Max | Medical realism meets pandemic trauma. |
| Best Actor | Noah Wyle | The Pitt | A return to form with “urgent” authenticity. |
| Best Actress | Rhea Seehorn | Pluribus | Sci-Fi nuance; playing a resistor in a hive-mind. |
| Best Limited Series | Adolescence | Netflix | A technical feat of one-shot storytelling. |
Perhaps the most heartening bit from the 31st Critics Choice Awards is that “Genre isn’t a slur anymore.”Horror and Sci-Fi, two genres long neglected at awards time, dominated the discussion.
The 2026 ceremony wasn’t about the speeches (though Noah Wyle’s tribute to healthcare workers was a tear-jerker), it was about the work. The Critics Choice Association took risks in its rewards. They watched Chalamet playing ping-pong half-blind, Elordi starving in a makeup chair, Stephen Graham doing a one-hour monologue in a single take and thought: This is the bar now.
As we head toward the Oscars, one thing is clear: The industry is turning its back on polished perfection and embracing a gritty, sweaty, technically dazzling brand of realism.
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Elizabeth Olsen confirms her Marvel return but skips Avengers: Doomsday & Secret Wars. Find out the truth behind Scarlet Witch’s MCU future and new FX project!
Yes, Elizabeth Olsen is confirmed to return in the MCU.If you’re concerned that Elizabeth Olsen won’t make a return as Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rest assured: she is. Although Hollywood is currently on a bit of a break, Deadline shared that Hamptons International Film Festival has been in full swing, providing sneak previews of what’s ahead, and with it, the talent to bring light to their projects and comment on them. She added, “These movies really aren’t made for critics, these movies are made for fans,” and said she is very excited about doing“ character story lines from the comics that people have wanted to see characters do.”
While she was open to coming back, Olsen has officially said she will not be in the next Avengers movies. In March 2025, she said to The Hollywood Reporter: “No, I’m back. I’ve just finished. I’m off to shoot a pilot for FX [Seven Sisters]”. A schedule conflict rules her out for both Avengers: Doomsday (May 1, 2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (May 7, 2027).
Liz or Marvel Haven’t “Cast Her Out” – This is more about Elizabeth Olsen’s personal artistic choices and schedule conflicts. Olsen said: “I had no idea until about six years ago, but because Marvel and its power occupies so much space and time in the world, it is really important for me to make choices outside of Marvel that align with my taste”. She stressed that she wants to explore her artistic identity outside of the Marvel universe.
Olsen’s remarks show her yearning to have creative flexibility while still being a part of the MCU. She had earlier said that Marvel has given her ‘some feeling of insurance in my life that has given me freedom to choose other jobs’. Her response has been: “I never really had the attitude that “one for them, one for me.” Marvel has been such a solid thing I’ve been able to go back to”.
Olsen has also returned to voice Scarlet Witch, in the animated series Marvel Zombies on Disney+ on September 24, 2025 but was not in any live-action films. The four-episode series include other MCU actors who also play versions of themselves in a zombie apocalypse story. But she said these voice sessions were recorded years ago, Forbes shared.
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Marvel has now said that Wanda Maximoff did die in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The official MCU timeline book says she “ destroys Wundagore and buries it under herself, eliminating two major threats to the entire Multiverse”. But death is seldom permanent in the comics and superhero stories generally, particularly for major characters like Scarlet Witch.
Olsen is currently concentrating on the FX pilot Seven Sisters, reuniting her with Martha Marcy May Marlene helmer Sean Durkin. The story follows a family that falls apart when one sister (Olsen) starts hearing voices that nobody else can.
In a future that marvel fans call the multiverse, insider Alex Perez has implied that Elizabeth Olsen is going to continue to play Scarlet Witch post Marvels secret mcu reset following Avengers: Secret Wars. This suggests that even though she might be missing from some of the immediate Avengers movies, there is still a lot of potential for her in the MCU long-term future.
Notably, Olsen has also articulated a particular wish to One story to touch on adapting the House of M comic story arc, I think House of M is just the coolest thing. I feel like it would be so fun to do something with the X-Men or mutants.” This hints at storylines for the future that may well bring her back, particularly as the MCU positions itself to bring in mutants and the X-Men.
Elizabeth Olsen’s door to the MCU is still open and positive. Although hectic scheduling and a wish to pursue other artistic avenues have prevented her from gracing the biggest Avengers films, her openness to return and her continuing involvement with Marvel properties — such as Marvel Zombies — hint that Scarlet Witch’s tale in the MCU isn’t finished.
Rian Johnson has hinted at Knives Out 4 with Daniel Craig and hopes to cast Meryl Streep. Wake Up Dead Man will arrive in 2025 before the next mystery begins.
If there’s one thing Rian Johnson has shown us these past few years, it’s that the whodunit isn’t defunct but it simply needed a new wardrobe. The Knives Out series has blossomed from a sleeper success into a cultural juggernaut, the quintessential cinematic comfort food for a generation exhausted by CGI superheroes. But now as we’re about to do the third, Wake Up Dead Man (in late 2025), the conversation is already shifting to the future. And that future has a name: Meryl Streep.
Rian Johnson tends to keep things close to the vest. He is notoriously not in possession of “wish lists” of actors, instead allowing the script to determine the casting. However, he has just broken his own rule in an interview with IndieWire, revealing that Meryl Streep for a future mystery is the one and only person he wants.
“I feel like you’d slot into a murder mystery very well,”
–Johnson said
Addressing the screen legend, It’s a match made in cinematic heaven. The Knives Out world is very much about tone, a sort of heightened reality where camp has real emotion. Streep is the unchallenged sovereign of this discrepancy. From the grotesque comedy of Death Becomes Her to the icy satire of The Devil Wears Prada, she can portray a matriarchal antagonist or a flustered intellectual counterpoint to Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc.
The campaign to get her is already in-house. Kerry Washington, star of the soon to Wake Up Dead Man, has gone public with her intention to “encourage” her former co-star to come aboard. In Hollywood, that sort of peer-to-peer validation is often what seals the deal.
Part of the brilliance of the Knives Out approach is its ”revolving door” policy. Except for the immaculately clad Benoit Blanc, no one makes it to the sequel. This “literary hex” format eliminates the “Cabot Cove Syndrome” (“where murder just keeps following one person around”) and keeps the storyline fresh.
According to Variety, This setup has come to serve as the franchise’s secret weapon in recruiting. It’s easy to see Streep, one of the finest actresses of her generation, expressing hesitation about signing a six-movie deal for a Marvel franchise, but a “one-and-done” invitation to play a quirky suspect in a glamorous location? That’s an easy yes. It gives Johnson the ability to book “Avengers-level” casts in what are basically mid-budget conversations in rooms.
“Daniel and I make these films as partners. The moment either of us feels even a little unsure, we’ll stop.
—Johnson said.
We have the 2025 release to work through before any Streep dreams. Wake Up Dead Man will move the satirical focus from the tech disruptors of Glass Onion to religious organizations. With a cast that includes Josh Brolin, Andrew Scott, and the legendary Glenn Close, the film appears to be trying out working with Hollywood royalty—perhaps a dry run for the “Streep Proposition.”
But the most intriguing twist may emerge behind the scenes. The massive $450 million four-picture deal Johnson inked with Netflix officially ends with this third film. This makes Knives Out 4 a “free agent.”
Johnson has spoken openly about his preference for the theatrical experience, and with the rights possibly coming available, we may get a huge bidding war among streamers and traditional studios. This grants Johnson and Daniel Craig extraordinary leverage. If they want to get Meryl Streep to the movie, not just the television movie, they can insist on a full theatrical run as a prerequisite for the next film.
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Asking for Meryl Streep in Knives Out now means the game is no longer a hit series, it’s trying to become a cinematic institution. In the age when franchise and reboots rule the roost, this franchise is the last holdout of the “adult blockbuster”—films that are propelled by dialogue, character and wit rather than explosions.
“When it’s all said and done, you make the movie and you just can’t see anybody else playing that role.”
—Johnson said.
Rian Johnson’s vision of Knives Out is constantly changing and deepening, and with the chance of Meryl Streep joining Daniel Craig in another film round, the franchise is moving closer to become a trip-holiday cinematic tradition. The stage is set for bigger names, bigger bids and an even grander reinvention of the modern whodunit with Wake Up Dead Man coming in 2025 and the fourth film currently in “free agent” limbo. If Streep makes her way into this world, it wouldn’t just be casting — it’d be history.
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