The British comedian, known for raunchy, off-the-cuff humor, promised a program "more impressive than 'The Avengers,'" in a nod to the summer blockbuster that features Marvel comic book characters and recently set an opening weekend box office record of $207 million in the United States and Canada.

"With his amazing ability to span the full spectrum of comedy from the most high to low brow, Russell's smart, unpredictable wit uniquely connects him to our audience," added Stephen Friedman, the president of MTV.

The MTV Movie Awards, which this year take place in Los Angeles on June 3, is one of the youth-oriented cable TV channel's most-watched programs, and they serve as a launch pad for many of Hollywood's movie summer films aimed mostly at young audiences.

This year's nominees are led by post-apocalyptic film "The Hunger Games" and female comedy "Bridesmaids," with eight nominations each. The awards show also celebrates irreverent categories such as best kiss and best fight.

Brand will be joined by a star-studded list of presenters handing out MTV's golden popcorn statuettes, including Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, while New York indie-pop band fun. will be performing at the show.

Previous hosts of the show have included Jimmy Fallon, Aziz Ansari, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jason Sudeikis.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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