MTV Movie & TV Awards 2018: Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman gives Best Hero award to Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr

The Marvel actor surprised the real-life hero while accepting his award

Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman received the Best Hero award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards and surprised real-life Waffle House shooting hero James Shaw Jr. by paying tribute to him.

Boseman - who received the honour on Monday night for his role as T'Challa/Black Panther in the hit Marvel movie - gave his golden popcorn to someone he thought deserved it more: Shaw Jr.

"Thank you to the fans - you made this movie special. You made this moment special," Boseman said during his speech. "When Black Panther came out, [director] Ryan Coogler and I wanted to make sure that we did a a movie that everybody could embrace. So thank you so much for what you did."

As the cameras shifted to Shaw Jr., Boseman added: "Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it's even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life."

"So I just want to acknowledge somebody who's here today - James Shaw Jr. If you don't know James Shaw Jr., he fought off a gunman in Antioch, Tennessee, at a Waffle House to save lives," the 40-year-old actor said.

Boseman then invited the electrician-turned-hero to the stage from his seat in the audience.

"So, this is gonna live at your house," Boseman said, presenting his award to Shaw Jr.

In April, Shaw Jr. was lauded as a hero after saving lives during a shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee.

He disarmed a gunman, identified by police as Travis Reinking, who opened fire and fatally shot four people with an AR-15 rifle and wounded a number of others.

If it wasn't for Shaw Jr.'s intervention, officials later said that there would have been "greater bloodshed."

In addition to Best Hero, Boseman has also received a nod for Best Performance in a Movie, while Black Panther received nominations for Best Fight, Best On-Screen Team and Best Movie.