Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of SFWA, though the creators of the nominees do not need to be members. Works are nominated each year by members in a period around December 15 through January 31, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Soon after, members are given a month to vote on the ballot, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Members are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Prior to the 2009 awards, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then be awarded in the calendar year after that.
During the 15 nomination years, 89 works have been nominated, with 15 winners in addition to the 4 awards chosen without nominees in 1992–2009. A few franchises have seen multiple nominations; the Marvel Cinematic Universe has earned the most nominations with ten films, two television seasons, and one television episode, with one film and one television season winning. Other franchises with multiple nominations are Doctor Who with one win out of three nominated television episodes, Star Wars with three film and three television episode nominations, and The Good Place with one win out of three nominated television episodes. The award is typically for television episodes and films, but occasionally rewards works in other formats: the 1999 award was given to an entire television series and three other seasons have been nominated since, the 2001 award was given to a radio anthology series, the 2009 award was given to a creator's entire filmography to date. Prior to the 2019 awards both the writers and directors were listed, but since then only writers have been noted.
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was first published. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the work's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist. The creators listed are the people and roles identified by SFWA, and may not match the full credited people or titles for the work; SFWA states in its rules that the award is given to the "principal" director and writers.
| Year | Work | Creator(s) | Publisher(s) | Ref. |
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| 1992 | | James Cameron (director, writer), William Wisher Jr. (writer) | TriStar Pictures | |
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| 1999 | Babylon 5 | J. Michael Straczynski (director, writer) | Babylonian Productions / Warner Bros. Domestic Television | |
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| 2001 | 2000X: Tales of the Next Millennia | Yuri Rasovsky (writer), Harlan Ellison (writer) | NPR | |
|---|
| 2009 | Joss Whedon filmography | Joss Whedon (writer) | multiple | |
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| 2010 | District 9 | Neill Blomkamp (director, writer), Terri Tatchell (writer) | TriStar Pictures | |
|---|
| Avatar | James Cameron (director, writer) | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | |
| Coraline | Henry Selick (director, writer) | Focus Features | |
| Moon | Duncan Jones (director, writer), Nathan Parker (writer) | Sony Pictures | |
| Star Trek | J. J. Abrams (director), Roberto Orci (writer), Alex Kurtzman (writer) | Paramount Pictures | |
| Up | Pete Docter (director, writer), Bob Peterson (writer), Tom McCarthy (writer) | Pixar/Walt Disney Pictures | |
| 2011 | Inception | Christopher Nolan (director, writer) | Warner Bros. | |
|---|
| Despicable Me | Pierre Coffin (director), Cinco Paul (writer), Ken Daurio (writer) | Universal Pictures | |
| Doctor Who "Vincent and the Doctor"
| Jonny Campbell (director), Richard Curtis (writer) | BBC | |
| How To Train Your Dragon | Dean DeBlois (writer), Chris Sanders (writer), William Davies (writer) | Paramount Pictures | |
| Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Edgar Wright (director, writer), Michael Bacall (writer) | Universal Pictures | |
| Toy Story 3 | Michael Arndt (writer) | Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures | |
| 2012 | Doctor Who "The Doctor's Wife"*
| Richard Clark (director), Neil Gaiman (writer) | BBC Cymru Wales | |
|---|
| data-sort-value="Adjustment Bureau" | The Adjustment Bureau | George Nolfi (director, writer) | Universal Pictures | |
| Attack the Block | Joe Cornish (director, writer) | Optimum Releasing/Screen Gems | |
| | Joe Johnston (director), Christopher Markus (writer), Stephen McFeely (writer) | Paramount Pictures | |
| Hugo | Martin Scorsese (director), John Logan (writer) | Paramount Pictures | |
| Midnight in Paris | Woody Allen (director, writer) | Sony Pictures | |
| Source Code | Duncan Jones (director) and Ben Ripley (writer) | Summit Entertainment | |
| 2013 | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Benh Zeitlin (director, writer), Lucy Alibar (writer) | Journeyman/Cinereach/Court 13 | |
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| data-sort-value="Avengers" | The Avengers | Joss Whedon (director, writer), Zak Penn (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
| data-sort-value="Cabin in the Woods" | The Cabin in the Woods | Drew Goddard (director, writer), Joss Whedon (writer) | Mutant Enemy Productions | |
| data-sort-value="Hunger Games" | The Hunger Games | Gary Ross (director, writer), Suzanne Collins (writer), and Billy Ray (writer) | Lionsgate | |
| John Carter | Andrew Stanton (director, writer) | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Looper | Rian Johnson (director) | DMG Entertainment/Endgame Entertainment | |
| 2014 | Gravity | Alfonso Cuarón (director, writer), Jonás Cuarón, (writer) | Warner Bros. | |
|---|
| Doctor Who "The Day of the Doctor"
| Nick Hurran (director), Steven Moffat (writer) | BBC Cymru Wales | |
| Europa Report | Sebastián Cordero (director), Philip Gelatt (writer) | Start Motion Pictures | |
| Her | Spike Jonze (director, writer) | Warner Bros. | |
| data-sort-value="Hunger Games: Catching Fire" | | Francis Lawrence (director), Simon Beaufoy (writer), Michael deBruyn (writer) | Lionsgate | |
| Pacific Rim | Guillermo del Toro (director, writer), Travis Beacham (writer) | Warner Bros. | |
| 2015 | Guardians of the Galaxy | James Gunn (writer), Nicole Perlman (writer) | Walt Disney Pictures | |
|---|
| Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Alejandro González Iñárritu (writer), Nicolás Giacobone (writer), Alexander Dinelaris Jr. (writer), Armando Bó (writer) | Fox Searchlight | |
| | Christopher Markus (writer), Stephen McFeely (writer) | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Edge of Tomorrow | Christopher McQuarrie (writer), Jez Butterworth (writer), John-Henry Butterworth (writer) | Warner Bros. | |
| Interstellar | Christopher Nolan (writer), Jonathan Nolan (writer) | Paramount Pictures | |
| data-sort-value="Lego Movie" | The Lego Movie | Phil Lord (writer), Christopher Miller (writer) | Warner Bros. | |
| 2016 | | George Miller (director, writer), Brendan McCarthy (writer), Nico Lathouris (writer) | Village Roadshow Pictures/Kennedy Miller Mitchell/RatPac-Dune Entertainment | |
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| Ex Machina | Alex Garland (director, writer), Bradley Thompson (director, writer), David Weddle (director, writer) | Film4 Productions/DNA Films | |
| Inside Out | Pete Docter (director, writer), Ronnie del Carmen (writer), Meg LeFauve (writer), Josh Cooley (writer) | Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar | |
| Jessica Jones "AKA Smile"
| Michael Rymer (director), Scott Reynolds (writer), Melissa Rosenberg (writer), Jamie King (writer) | Marvel Television/ABC Studios/Tall Girls Productions | |
| data-sort-value="Martian" | The Martian | Ridley Scott (director), Drew Goddard (writer) | Scott Free Productions/Kinberg Genre/TSG Entertainment | |
| | J. J. Abrams (director, writer), Lawrence Kasdan (writer), Michael Arndt (writer) | Lucasfilm/Bad Robot Productions | |
| 2017 | Arrival | Denis Villeneuve (director), Eric Heisserer (writer) | 21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films/Xenolinguistics | |
|---|
| Doctor Strange | Scott Derrickson (director, writer), C. Robert Cargill (writer) | Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Kubo and the Two Strings | Travis Knight (director), Mark Haimes (writer), Chris Butler (writer) | Laika | |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Gareth Edwards (director), Chris Weitz (writer), Tony Gilroy (writer) | Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Westworld "The Bicameral Mind"
| Jonathan Nolan (director, writer), Lisa Joy (writer) | HBO | |
| Zootopia | Byron Howard (director), Jared Bush (writer), Phil Johnston (writer) | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| 2018 | Get Out | Jordan Peele (director, writer) | Universal Pictures | |
|---|
| data-sort-value="Good Place: Michael's Gambit" | The Good Place "Michael's Gambit"
| Michael Schur (director, writer) | NBC | |
| Logan | James Mangold (director, writer), Scott Frank (writer), Michael Green (writer) | 20th Century Fox | |
| data-sort-value="Shape of Water" | The Shape of Water | Guillermo del Toro (director, writer), Vanessa Taylor (writer) | Fox Searchlight Pictures | |
| | Rian Johnson (director, writer) | Lucasfilm | |
| Wonder Woman | Patty Jenkins (director), Allan Heinberg (writer) | Warner Bros. | |
| 2019 | | Phil Lord (writer), Rodney Rothman (writer) | Sony Pictures Animation | |
|---|
| Black Panther | Ryan Coogler (writer), Joe Robert Cole (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
| Dirty Computer | Janelle Monáe (writer), Chuck Lightning (writer) | Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy Records/Atlantic Records | |
| data-sort-value="Good Place: Jeremy Bearimy" | The Good Place "Jeremy Bearimy"
| Megan Amram (writer) | NBC | |
| data-sort-value="Quiet Place" | A Quiet Place | John Krasinski (writer), Bryan Woods (writer), Scott Beck (writer) | Platinum Dunes/Sunday Night Productions | |
| Sorry to Bother You | Boots Riley (writer) | Annapurna Pictures | |
| 2020 | Good Omens "Hard Times"*
| Neil Gaiman (writer) | Amazon Studios/BBC Studios | |
|---|
| | Christopher Markus (writer), Stephen McFeely (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
| Captain Marvel | Anna Boden (writer), Geneva Robertson-Dworet (writer), Ryan Fleck (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
| data-sort-value="Mandalorian" | The Mandalorian "The Child"
| Jon Favreau (writer) | Disney+ | |
| Russian Doll "The Way Out"
| Allison Silverman (writer), Leslye Headland (writer) | Netflix | |
| Watchmen "A God Walks into Abar"
| Jeff Jensen (writer), Damon Lindelof (writer) | HBO | |
| 2021 | data-sort-value="Good Place: Whenever You're Ready" | The Good Place "Whenever You're Ready"*
| Michael Schur (writer) | NBC, Fremulon/3 Arts Entertainment/Universal | |
|---|
| Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn | Christina Hodson (writer) | Warner Bros. Television Studios, Clubhouse Pictures/DC Films/Kroll & Co. Entertainment/LuckyChap Entertainment | |
| data-sort-value="Expanse: Gaugamela" | The Expanse "Gaugamela"
| Dan Nowak (writer) | Amazon Prime, Alcon Entertainment/Alcon Television Group/Amazon Studios/Hivemind/Just So | |
| Lovecraft Country (season 1) | Misha Green (writer), Shannon Houston (writer), Kevin Lau (writer), Wes Taylor (writer), Ihuoma Ofordire (writer), Jonathan I. Kidd (writer), and Sonya Winton-Odamtten (writer) | HBO Max, Bad Robot Productions/Monkeypaw Productions/Warner Bros. Television Studios | |
| data-sort-value="Mandalorian: The Tragedy" | The Mandalorian "The Tragedy"
| Jon Favreau (writer) | Disney+, Golem Creations/Lucasfilm | |
| data-sort-value="Old Guard" | The Old Guard | Greg Rucka (writer) | Netflix, Skydance Media/Denver and Delilah Productions/Marc Evans Productions | |
| 2022 | WandaVision (season 1)* | Peter Cameron (writer), Mackenzie Dohr (writer), Laura Donney (writer), Bobak Esfarjani (writer), Megan McDonnell (writer), Jac Schaeffer (writer), Cameron Squires (writer), Gretchen Enders (writer), Chuck Hayward (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
|---|
| Encanto | Charise Castro Smith (writer), Jared Bush (writer), Byron Howard (writer), Jason Hand (writer), Nancy Kruse (writer), Lin-Manuel Miranda (writer) | Walt Disney Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures | |
| data-sort-value="Green Knight" | The Green Knight | David Lowery (writer) | Sailor Bear/Bron Studios/A24 | |
| Loki (season 1) | Bisha K. Ali (writer), Elissa Karasik (writer), Eric Martin (writer), Michael Waldron (writer), Tom Kauffman (writer), Jess Dweck (writer) | Marvel Studios | |
| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Dave Callaham (writer), Destin Daniel Cretton (writer), Andrew Lanham (writer) | Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures | |
| Space Sweepers | Jo Sung-hee (writer) | Bidangil Pictures | |
| What We Do in the Shadows (season 3) | Jake Bender (writer), Zach Dunn (writer), Shana Gohd (writer), Sam Johnson (writer), Chris Marcil (writer), William Meny (writer), Sarah Naftalis (writer), Stefani Robinson (writer), Marika Sawyer (writer), Paul Simms (writer), Lauren Wells (writer) | FX Productions/Two Canoes Pictures/343 Incorporated/FX Network | |
| 2023 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Daniel Kwan (writer), Daniel Scheinert (writer) | A24/AGBO/IAC Films | |
|---|
| Andor "One Way Out"
| Beau Willimon (writer), Tony Gilroy (writer) | Lucasfilm/Disney+ | |
| Nope | Jordan Peele (writer) | Universal Pictures | |
| Our Flag Means Death (season 1) | David Jenkins (writer), Eliza Jiménez Cossio (writer), Zadry Ferrer-Geddes (writer), William Meny (writer), Maddie Dai (writer), Alyssa Lane (writer), John Mahone (writer), Simone Nathan (writer), Natalie Torres (writer), Zackery Alexzander Stephens (writer), Alex J. Sherman (writer), Jes Tom (writer), Adam Stein (writer) | Dive/HBO Max | |
| (season 1) | Neil Gaiman (writer), Lauren Bello (writer), Vanessa Benton (writer), Mike Dringenberg (writer), Sam Kieth (writer), Catherine Smyth-McMullen (writer), Heather Bellson (writer), Jim Campolongo (writer), Jay Franklin (writer), Austin Guzman (writer), Alexander Newman-Wise (writer), Ameni Rozsa (writer), David S. Goyer (writer), Allan Heinberg (writer) | DC Entertainment/Netflix | |
| Severance (season 1) | Dan Erickson (writer), Chris Black (writer), Andrew Colville (writer), Amanda Overton (writer), Anna Ouyang Moench (writer), Helen Leigh (writer), Kari Drake (writer), Mark Friedman (writer) | Endeavor Content/Red Hour Productions/Apple TV+ | |
| 2024 | Barbie | Greta Gerwig (writer), Noah Baumbach (writer) | Warner Bros., Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment | |
|---|
| Nimona | Robert L. Baird (writer), Lloyd Taylor (writer), Pamela Ribon (writer), Marc Haimes (writer), Nick Bruno (writer), Troy Quane (writer), Keith Bunin (writer), Nate Stevenson (writer) | Annapurna Animation, Annapurna Pictures | |
| The Last of Us "Long, Long Time"
| Neil Druckmann (writer), Craig Mazin (writer) | HBOMax | |
| | Jonathan Goldstein (writer), John Francis Daley (writer), Michael Gilio (writer), Chris McKay (writer) | Paramount Pictures, Entertainment One, Allspark Pictures | |
| | Phil Lord (writer), Christopher Miller (writer), David Callaham (writer) | Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Avi Arad Productions | |
| The Boy and the Heron | Hayao Miyazaki (writer) | Studio Ghibli, Toho | | |
