Photo: Marvel Studios

Avengers: Endgame slayed the competition at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards, scoring three top honours, including Best Movie.

Co-director Anthony Russo collected the event's big accolade, and paid tribute to late Marvel icon Stan Lee in his acceptance speech with a little help from Thor star Chris Hemsworth and Iron Man Robert Downey Jr., who sent in video messages for the occasion.

Downey Jr. also snagged Best Hero for his portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame, and co-star Josh Brolin landed Best Villain for his role as Thanos.

Lady Gaga was recognized with the Best Performance in a Movie accolade for A Star Is Born, while her onscreen duet of Oscar-winning song Shallow with Bradley Cooper earned the pair the Best Musical Moment.

In the TV categories, Game of Thrones bowed out as Best Show, and the Golden Popcorn prize for Best Performance in a Show was collected by Elisabeth Moss for The Handmaid's Tale.

Jada Pinkett Smith was honoured with the Trailblazer Award, and Dwayne Johnson took home the Generation Award.

As he picked up the prize for his diverse contributions to film and TV, the former wrestler-turned-movie star, aka The Rock, encouraged fans to embrace their differences, instead of trying to conform.

"When I first got to Hollywood, Hollywood (bosses), they didn't know what the hell to do with me...," the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star recalled. "I was told at that time, 'You gotta be a certain way, you gotta drop some weight, you gotta be somebody different, you gotta stop working out... You gotta stop calling yourself The Rock.' What...?

"For years, I bought into it... and I was miserable doing that, so I made a choice: I wasn't going to conform to Hollywood, Hollywood was gonna conform to me."

Meanwhile, there was also a poignant moment as damning TV series Surviving R. Kelly, which detailed the years of sex assault accusations made against the embattled R&B veteran, was awarded Best Documentary, with a number of alleged victims featured in the series joining producers including Tamra Simmons to accept the prize.

The 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards were hosted by Zachary Levi at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, California on Saturday, with the ceremony broadcast on Monday.