History ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames / MarvelCinematicUniverse

** ComicBook/{{Luke|CageHeroForHire}} himself and ComicBook/MistyKnight barely have codenames in the first place. Luke does have an infrequently-used name of "Power Man" in the comics, which is shown here as one of Pop's {{Affectionate Nickname}}s for him.

** Averted with ComicBook/{{Ultron}} and ComicBook/TheVision, who have no other names. Vision was originally referred to as a metaphorical vision of various characters', but later Tony, and eventually Steve and Thor, use it by the end of the movie, all in a way that indicates it's been adopted as his official name.

** In ''Film/AvengerAgeOfUltron'', Tony uses a special massive set of armor designed to subdue the Hulk. It's popularly known and marketed as the "Hulkbuster", but the name only shows up in the movie on Tony's HUD - in dialogue, the actual codename for the armor seems to be [[BettyAndVeronica "Veronica"]]. It gets its "real" codename back in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', being referred to as such by Happy during an inventory run-down.

** Iron Man himself doesn't get called that name until the end of the first film and it's only used once or twice in the following films where he appears ("I am Iron Man" gets an echo in ''Iron Man 2'' and ComicBook/NickFury refers to him as Iron Man once), but the name is also used in specific reference to the suit (i.e. "the Iron Man weapon" or "Tony Stark's Iron Man"). It does get namedropped in ''Series/LukeCage'' in a rap by [[Music/WuTangClan Method Man]] ("And there ain't no Iron Man that can come and save us all?").
** The words "ComicBook/WarMachine" originate in ''Film/IronMan2'' as an offhanded insult from Tony to James Rhodes. Averted by ''3'', where "War Machine" is his official codename and Tony is incredulous that Rhodey actually adopted it just from that remark. Or rather, his ''official'' codename in ''3'' is "Iron Patriot", which Rhodey claims "tested better with focus groups"; but a number of people state they liked "War Machine" better. By ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', he's just "War Machine" again and uses the name in a BadassBoast.
** As for the villains, Obadiah Stane is never called "Iron Monger", although he briefly says the word in reference to Stark Industries' role as a weapon manufacturer. Meanwhile, there's Ivan Vanko: a CompositeCharacter of two villains named "Crimson Dynamo" and "Whiplash". He gets called neither in the second film, though the marketing referred to him as Whiplash. In ''Iron Man 3'', Eric Savin and Jack Taggert go by their real names, and are never once referred to as "Coldblood" or "Firepower" (and the Extremis soldiers all have heat powers, so "Coldblood" wouldn't even make sense anyway). The Mandarin is an aversion, being referred to as such, [[spoiler:though the character Ben Kingsley played is ultimately revealed as a DecoyLeader. The real villain, Aldrich Killian, only refers to himself as the Mandarin once.]] This gets even stranger in the short ''[[Film/MarvelOneShots All Hail The King]]'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Killian wasn't the REAL Mandarin either, and had stolen the name. The REAL one, though never shown, is naturally miffed at other people stealing his shtick.]]
** In ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', Tony uses a special massive set of armor designed to subdue the Hulk. It's popularly known and marketed as the "Hulkbuster", but the name only shows up in the movie on Tony's HUD - in dialogue, the actual codename for the armor seems to be [[BettyAndVeronica "Veronica"]].

* Averted in the ''Film/{{Thor}}'' films, where everyone's "superhero" identities are in fact their real names. Thor himself inverts it in the first movie, as the character once had a civilian identity in the comics, but the movies don't bother. So "Thor" is used all throughout the movie, while the name "Dr. Donald Blake" is the one that only gets [[MythologyGag a few token mentions]].
* In the ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Captain America]]'' movies:
** The eponymous hero plays with the trope constantly. He only takes the name Captain America as a stage name, not as a superhero. Once he makes the transition to war hero, all of the characters call him Steve or "Captain Rogers" with a few exceptions (once by Bucky, once by Cap himself, and the other time by the Red Skull), and most of those examples are used as humor, irony, or mockery. Further, unlike in the original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeofComicBooks Golden Age]] comics, Cap does officially have the rank of "Captain", and since we've got various characters referring to him by "Captain", it's hard to know if they're using his stage name or military rank. By ''The Avengers'', though, Captain America has become legendary and the name is in widespread use.

** ComicBook/TheFalcon has his codename used regularly in the various movies he appears in, adopted from the model of flight pack he uses.

** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': The "Winter Soldier" codename is invoked frequently, but the heroes stop calling him this once they find out that he is [[spoiler:ComicBook/BuckyBarnes.]] In ''Civil War'' it's explained that [[spoiler:there are more HYDRA super-assassins, and Bucky refers to them as "Winter Soldiers" as well.]] Georges Batroc is revised to be a normal mercenary instead of a supervillainous one and is never called "Batroc the Leaper". Finally, Sharon Carter is referred to as "ComicBook/{{Agent 13}}" throughout most of the movie, with Natasha only revealing her first name during the movie's last scene; in ''Civil War'' she only goes by her given name (and may in fact have lost her "Agent" designation after [[spoiler:S.H.I.E.L.D. fell.]])

* From multiple movies, Natasha Romanov's handle of "Comicbook/BlackWidow" never comes up in ''Iron Man 2'', and is only used in ''The Avengers'' twice. In the first instance, it was spoken ''in Russian'', so anyone watching the film outside of its Russian dub actually only gets to ''read'' the name in subtitle form. Its other brief appearance is on the screen of a dossier Coulson is viewing. It's used all of once in ''The Winter Soldier'', where an agent refers to her as Black Widow while communicating with Rumlow. The name was absent from ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', but reappeared in ''Civil War'' when Zemo mentions "the Black Widow." Film/SpiderManHomecoming also has one of Peter Parker's classmates refer to her by the code name as well.
* In ''The Avengers'', Clint Barton is called "{{ComicBook/Hawkeye}}" all of once by the Black Widow during the Battle of New York. It appears to be his radio callsign, with the name appearing briefly when Coulson is viewing his dossier in the film's beginning. The closest anyone comes otherwise is Dr. Erik Selvig semi-dismissively calling him "the Hawk". During his prior cameo in ''Thor'' it wasn't even alluded to, and in ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'' it's used once in an affectionately mocking way by [[spoiler:his wife]]. It's absent again in ''Civil War'', and when meeting Black Panther he explicitly introduces himself as "Clint", not "Hawkeye".
* This trope can be applied to the MacGuffin of ''Captain America'' and ''The Avengers''. In the movies, it's called the Tesseract, or "the cube". They never use its comic book name, the "Cosmic Cube". However, it and other {{MacGuffin}}s are collectively known as [[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet Infinity Stones]], a name that ''is'' taken from the comics.
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': In general, the movie uses the same aversion as the ''Thor'' movies in that everyone's names are their real ones, but there are a few examples:

** Parodied with "Star-Lord", as Peter Quill introduces himself as that, but people just respond with confusion. When the space cops later look at his rap sheet, they comment that apparently [[SmallNameBigEgo the only person who calls Quill "Star-Lord" is himself]]. Comically, he is ecstatic when, in the last act of the film, someone actually ''does'' call him Star-Lord without a trace of irony.[[note]]While the guy pretty much snarls the name at him due to how pissed-off he is to see him, he's not mocking it and actually seems to only know him by this name.[[/note]]
*** ''Vol. 2'' has a similar parody with the leader of the Ravager mutiny, who calls himself "Taserface". ''Nobody'' can take that name seriously.

** One character is formally introduced, both here and in TheStinger of ''Thor: The Dark World'', as "Taneleer Tivan, the Collector", covering both real name and "codename" in one fell swoop.

** Averted with ComicBook/{{Ultron}} and ComicBook/TheVision, who have no other names. Vision was originally referred to as a metaphorical vision of various characters', but later, Tony, and eventually Steve and Thor use it by the end of the movie, all in a way that indicates it's been adopted as his official name.
** Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are never referred to as ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} by way of WritingAroundTrademarks[[note]]due to the cinematic rights to the mutant characters being owned by 20th Century Fox, whose X-films have actually introduced their ''own'' Quicksilver[[/note]]. The closest is when Tony refers to Wanda as "that little witch".
*** Parodied by ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'':

* ''Film/AntMan:'' The "ComicBook/AntMan" moniker is used by SHIELD (in its anti-Soviet propaganda films) to refer to Hank Pym. The latter then passes the title (along with the corresponding powered suit) to Scott Lang. Hank also explicitly refers to his wife Janet van Dyne as "ComicBook/TheWasp". "Yellowjacket" is the name for the new powered suit Darren Cross develops rather than a specific person's nickname, although he is the only person to use this technology in the movie.

* ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'': Spider-Man averted it early on, as in his debut appearance in ''Civil War'', Peter and Tony openly discuss his codename. ("You're, what? Spider-ling? Spider-Boy?" "...Spider-Man." "Not in that onesie.")
** Taking a similar approach to that of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', the news and general public actually refer to him as "the spider-man", which fits into the idea that he's a new, mysterious hero who works on the streets rather than a well-known figure tackling world scale threats like the Avengers.
** The closest we get to "The Vulture" is Peter and Tony calling him "flying vulture guy".
** Reportedly, the Tinkerer is self-named, and his criminal buddies find it ridiculous.
** Jackson Brice actually does call himself the Shocker, but Adrian Toomes is quick to point out how stupid that sounds.
-->'''Adrian Toomes''': What is this, pro wrestling?
* ''Film/BlackPanther2018'':
** In ''Age of Ultron'', ''Panther'' villain Ulysses Klaw appears under his original surname of ''Klaue'', instead of his supervillain name.
** When the title character is introduced in ''Civil War'', T'Challa mentions the name to explain why his costume is cat-themed, but it's otherwise unused. Even so, its existence is justified since it's not merely a codename but a tribal and royal title.
** In Panther's solo movie, the villain M'Baku will not go by "Man-Ape" due to the UnfortunateImplications of a black character named and patterned after a gorilla.

* From multiple movies, Natasha Romanov's handle of "Comicbook/BlackWidow" never comes up in ''Iron Man 2'', and is only used in ''The Avengers'' twice. In the first instance, it was spoken ''in Russian'', so anyone watching the film outside of its Russian dub actually only gets to ''read'' the name in subtitle form. Its other brief appearance is on the screen of a dossier Coulson is viewing. It's used all of once in ''The Winter Soldier'', where an agent refers to her as Black Widow while communicating with Rumlow. The name was absent from ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', but reappeared in ''Civil War'' when Zemo mentions "the Black Widow."

** As for the villains, Obadiah Stane is never called "Iron Monger", although he briefly says the word in reference to Stark Industries' role as a weapon manufacturer. Meanwhile, there's Ivan Vanko: a CompositeCharacter of two villains named "Crimson Dynamo" and "Whiplash". He gets called neither in the second film, though the marketing referred to him as Whiplash. In ''Iron Man 3'', Eric Savin and Jack Taggert go by their real names, and are never once referred to as "Coldblood" or "Firepower" (and the Extremis soldiers all have heat powers, so "Coldblood" wouldn't even make sense anyway). The Mandarin is an aversion, being referred to as such, [[spoiler:though the character Ben Kingsley played is ultimately revealed as a DecoyLeader. The real villain, Aldrich Killian, only refers to himself as the Mandarin once]]. This gets even stranger in the short ''[[Film/MarvelOneShots All Hail The King]]'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Killian wasn't the REAL Mandarin either, and had stolen the name. The REAL one, though never shown, is naturally miffed at other people stealing his shtick.]]

** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': The "Winter Soldier" codename is invoked frequently, but the heroes stop calling him this once they find out that he is [[spoiler:ComicBook/BuckyBarnes]]. In ''Civil War'' it's explained that [[spoiler:there are more HYDRA super-assassins, and Bucky refers to them as "Winter Soldiers" as well]]. Georges Batroc is revised to be a normal mercenary instead of a supervillainous one and is never called "Batroc the Leaper". Finally, Sharon Carter is referred to as "ComicBook/{{Agent 13}}" throughout most of the movie, with Natasha only revealing her first name during the movie's last scene; in ''Civil War'' she only goes by her given name (and may in fact have lost her "Agent" designation after [[spoiler:S.H.I.E.L.D. fell]]).
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': Brock Rumlow is never referred to as Crossbones, though a tie-in comic establishes that the codename does exist in-universe (it also wasn't used when the character was in ''Winter Soldier'', but at that point he hadn't taken the identity of Crossbones yet). Zemo never had a codename to begin with, but is nonetheless changed from ''Baron'' Zemo since he's a Sokovian soldier rather than NaziNobleman as he is in the comics.

* ''Film/BlackPanther'': When the character is introduced in ''Civil War'', T'Challa mentions the name to explain why his costume is cat-themed, but it's otherwise unused. Even so, its existence is justified since it's not merely a codename but a tribal and royal title. In ''Age of Ultron'', ''Panther'' villain Ulysses Klaw appears under his original surname of ''Klaue'', instead of his supervillain name. In Panther's solo movie, the villain M'Baku will not go by "Man-Ape" due to the UnfortunateImplications of a black character named and patterned after a gorilla.

* ''Film/BlackPanther'': When the character is introduced in ''Civil War'', T'Challa mentions the name to explain why his costume is cat-themed, but it's otherwise unused. Even so, its existence is justified since it's not merely a codename but a tribal and royal title. In ''Age of Ultron'', ''Panther'' villain Ulysses Klaw appears under his original surname of ''Klaue'', instead of his supervillain name.

** Parodied with "Star-Lord", as Peter Quill introduces himself as that, but people just respond with confusion. When the space cops later look at his rap sheet, they comment that apparently the only person who calls Quill "Star-Lord" is ''himself''. Comically, he is ecstatic when, in the last act of the film, someone actually ''does'' call him Star-Lord without a trace of irony.[[note]]While the guy pretty much snarls the name at him due to how pissed-off he is to see him, he's not mocking it and actually seems to only know him by this name.[[/note]]

[[AC:TV - ''Defenders'' Shows (Netflix)]]

** Daredevil starts out as just "the man in the black mask". After the bombings of the Russian hideouts and the cops getting shot, Wilson Fisk paints him as a terrorist and the media dub him "the Devil of Hell's Kitchen". It's only at the end of the season when he's proven himself a hero by stopping Fisk's escape attempt, that he becomes "Daredevil". Matt Murdock and his friends make fun of but admit is better than the last name. However, the "Daredevil" name is not used that often in season 2 as people still are more used to his more dramatic "Devil of Hell's Kitchen" alias. Lampshaded by Frank Castle:

'''Daredevil:''' ({{Beat}}) I didn't ask for that name.\\

'''Daredevil:''' I don't do this to hurt people.\\

** Wilson Fisk is never called "Comicbook/TheKingpin" once in the first season, but the codename is usually visually alluded to (examples: on Ben Urich's corkboard, Fisk is represented by a ''King'' of Hearts playing card affixed by a white push''pin'', Detective Blake calls him "King Frickin' Kong"). It eventually comes into play in season 2 while he's in prison. Dutton, a lifer who runs the prison's underground economy, [[BullyingADragon tries to intimidate Fisk by claiming he's the kingpin of the joint.]] Fisk, of course, arranges his death at the hands of Frank Castle, and then, as Dutton lies dying on an infirmary bed, tells him, "In prison, there's only room for one kingpin," and officially takes the nickname for himself. Even then, the nickname doesn't really catch on, as whenever Fisk gets mentioned in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', it's only by his real name.
** In the second season, Frank Castle's alias as "ComicBook/ThePunisher" starts out as a codename the NYPD used while trying to figure out who the guy was, and the media popularize it from there.

** Many of Wilson Fisk's henchmen have codenames in the comics, like Leland Owlsley (The Owl), John Healy (Tenpin [[CompositeCharacter and/or]] Oddball), Roscoe Sweeney (The Fixer), Melvin Potter (Gladiator), and Ben Donovan (Big Ben). Obviously, these are just normal people and not costumed supervillains. There are a few nods to the names, but not many: Healy kills a victim with a bowling ball, Melvin has some Roman gladiator posters on his workshop wall and in season 2 offers to show off his Gladiator suit, Roscoe Sweeney is ''a'' fixer of boxing matches, Owlsley is shown getting a business suit tailored that looks like his comics suit, etc.
** Season 2 has a rare inversion, assigning a codename to someone that didn't have it before. Part of the plot involves tracking down a mysterious drug lord, called "the Blacksmith" because nobody knows his real identity. The character existed in the ''Punisher'' comics, and like the show was a drug dealer and [[spoiler:Frank's former commanding officer Ray Schoonover]], but didn't have a codename.

** Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (below) hardly had them in the comics to begin with. In a flashback, Trish encourages Jessica to take up superheroics, suggesting she use the nickname "Jewel" (the codename in her comic backstory). Jessica shoots the idea down and says "Jewel is a stripper's name, a really slutty stripper. And if I wear that thing, you're gonna have to call me Cameltoe." Kilgrave is quite disappointed that she's "just Jessica Jones" when asking for her superhero name.
** Trish Walker ([[ComicBook/PatsyWalker Hellcat]]) and Will Simpson (Nuke) don't get their codenames referenced either. Given Simpson's first name was changed for the series,[[note]]He's Frank Simpson in the comics. His first name was changed so as [[OneSteveLimit to avoid confusion with Frank Castle]], who was being introduced in season 2 of ''Series/Daredevil2015''[[/note]] it isn't immediately apparent that he's Nuke, right down to the pills that give him super powers, until he utters his (in)famous catchphrase of demanding "Reds."

** Averted for Danny Rand. "Iron Fist" is a proper title that was bestowed upon him. Lampshaded by Claire Temple:

*** And again in ''Series/TheDefenders2017'':

** Taking a similar approach to that of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', the news and general public actually refer to him as "the spider-man", which fits into the idea that he's a new hero who works on the streets rather than tackling world scale threats like the Avengers.

** Played with for Kilgrave. In the comics he's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Man The Purple Man]]", real name Zebediah Killgrave. In the show, he's simply "Kilgrave", and characters ''still'' [[RunningGag mock it as sounding like a blatant]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast scary name]], the kind of name a kid would come up with to sound threatening but is actually ridiculous. [[spoiler:It turns out that "Kilgrave" is an alias. His real name is Kevin Thompson, and he really ''is'' [[PsychopathicManchild that childish]].]] While he's never referred to as the "Purple Man" on screen, the name is still alluded to, as most of his wardrobe and related visual effects are purple.

** Oddly done with Davos. In the comics, he goes by the name of Steel Serpent; but in the show, the Steel Serpent name and insignia are used for Madame Gao's brand of heroin and have zero connection to Davos.

** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': Brock Rumlow is never referred to as Crossbones, though a tie-in comic establishes that the codename does exist in-universe (it also wasn't used when the character was in ''Winter Soldier'', but at that point he hadn't taken the identity of Crossbones yet). Zemo never had a codename to begin with, but is nonetheless changed from ''Baron'' Zemo since he's a Sokovian soldier rather than an German aristocrat as he is in the comics.

** The team's name "the guardians of the galaxy" is a mocking nickname given to the group by Ronan the Accuser. Peter throws it back in his face when they defeat him, with the implication that they may adopt it as a group name. It has this status by ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''.

** In the second film, Ego the Living Planet is simply referred to by his name and never with the title.

** CanonForeigner Lincoln Campbell is called "Sparkplug" by Mack, but S.H.I.E.L.D. never uses it in any official capacity, and it barely shows up in promotional material either.

** Jeffrey Mace doesn't use the codename "Patriot", but is referred to as a patriot a few times in dialogue. [[spoiler:And the serum that gives him his powers is also called "Project Patriot".]] He's also compared to Captain America in-universe, referencing how he held that title in the comics for a while as Rogers' successor. In the Framework, he is referred to as the Patriot pretty regularly, even by his enemies who hate the name.

** Trish Walker ([[ComicBook/PatsyWalker Hellcat]]) and Will Simpson (Nuke) don't get their codenames referenced either. Given Simpson's first name was changed for the series[[note]]He's Frank Simpson in the comics. His first name was changed so as [[OneSteveLimit to avoid confusion with Frank Castle]], who was being introduced in season 2 of ''Series/Daredevil2015''[[/note]], it isn't immediately apparent that he's Nuke, right down to the pills that give him super powers, until he utters his (in)famous catchphrase of demanding "Reds."

** Played with for Cottonmouth. In the comics, it was [[StevenUlyssesPerhero his real surname]]. Here, his name is Cornell ''Stokes''. [[BerserkButton And he absolutely hates being called]] [[EmbarrassingNickname "Cottonmouth"]].

** Lampshaded in ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' during Danny's first encounter with Luke:
--->'''Danny Rand:''' I'm the Immortal Iron Fist.
--->'''Luke Cage:''' You're ''what''?

** CanonForeigner Lincoln Campbell was assigned the codename "Sparkplug" by SHIELD, but it has never been used in the show and barely shows up in promotional material either.

** Played with for Elena Rodriguez. In the comics, she's ''Yolanda'' Rodriguez, with the nickname of "Yo-Yo" but the official codename of "Slingshot". In the show, she still gets the nickname "Yo-Yo" despite the fact that it no longer links to her given name, but "Slingshot" is never used... until a series of web videos starring her came out, bearing the title ''WebVideo/AgentsOfSHIELDSlingshot''. Even then, "Slingshot" still isn't used in-universe.

** Jeffrey Mace doesn't use the codename "Patriot", but is referred to as a patriot a few times in dialogue. [[spoiler:And the serum that gives him his powers is also called "Project Patriot".]] He's also compared to Captain America in-universe, referencing how he held that title in the comics for a while as Rogers' successor.

-->--Rhomann Dey [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this trope, ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''

->--Rhomann Dey [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this trope, ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''

* ''Series/IronFist2017'': Averted for Danny Rand. "Iron Fist" is a proper title that was bestowed upon him. Played with for ComicBook/ColleenWing: she didn't have her own codename in the comics, she does make a reference by calling herself "Daughter of the Dragon" when participating in underground cage matches; which is the team name for [[ComicBook/DaughtersOfTheDragon her and Misty Knight as a duo]].

** Iron Man himself doesn't get called that name until the end of the first film and it's only used once or twice in the following films where he appears ("I am Iron Man" gets an echo in ''Iron Man 2'' and ComicBook/NickFury refers to him as Iron Man once), but the name is also used in specific reference to the suit (i.e. "the Iron Man weapon" or "Tony Stark's Iron Man").

** The team's name "the guardians of the galaxy" is a mocking nickname given to the group by Ronan the Accuser. Peter throws it back in his face when they defeat him, with the implication that they may adopt it as a group name.

** Parodied with "Star-Lord", as Peter Quill introduces himself as that, but people just respond with confusion. When the space cops later look at his rap sheet, they comment that apparently the only person who calls Quill "Star-Lord" is ''himself''. Comically, he is ecstatic when, in the last act of the film, someone actually ''does'' call him Star-Lord.

** Another cross-show example is Claire Temple, a CompositeCharacter with the comics character codenamed "Night Nurse". In five seasons across four shows so far, the codename has only been mentioned once when a gangster referred to her as such in ''Luke Cage''.

** Wilson Fisk is never called "Comicbook/TheKingpin" once in the first season, but the codename is usually visually alluded to (examples: on Ben Urich's corkboard, Fisk is represented by a ''King'' of Hearts playing card affixed by a white push''pin'', Detective Blake calls him "King Frickin' Kong"). It eventually comes into play in season 2 while he's in prison. Dutton, a lifer who runs the prison's underground economy, [[BullyingADragon tries to intimidate Fisk by claiming he's the kingpin of the joint.]] Fisk, of course, arranges his death at the hands of Frank Castle, and then, as Dutton lies dying on a hospital bed, tells him, "In prison, there's only room for one kingpin," and officially takes the nickname for himself. Even then, the nickname doesn't really catch on, as whenever Fisk gets mentioned in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', it's only by his real name.

** Daredevil starts out as just "the man in the black mask". After the bombings of the Russian hideouts and the cops getting shot, Wilson Fisk paints him as a terrorist and the media dub him "the Devil of Hell's Kitchen". It's only at the end of the season when he's proven himself a hero by stopping Fisk's escape attempt, that he becomes "Daredevil". Matt Murdock and his friends make fun of but admit is better than the last name. However, the "Daredevil" name is not used that often in season 2 as people still are more used to his more dramatic "Devil of Hell's Kitchen" alias.
** Wilson Fisk is never called "Comicbook/TheKingpin" once in the first season, but he does receives a few references to kings (examples: on Ben Urich's corkboard, Fisk is represented by a ''King'' of Hearts playing card affixed by a white push''pin'', Detective Blake calls him "King Frickin' Kong"). It eventually comes into play in season 2 while he's in prison. Dutton, an inmate who runs the prison's underground economy, [[BullyingADragon tries to intimidate Fisk by claiming he's the kingpin of the joint.]] Fisk, of course, arranges his death at the hands of the Punisher, and then, as Dutton lies dying on a hospital bed, tells him, "In prison, there's only room for one kingpin," and officially takes the nickname for himself. Even then, the nickname doesn't really catch on, as whenever Fisk gets mentioned in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', it's only by his real name.

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': In general, the movie uses the same aversion as the ''Thor'' movies in that everyone's names are their real ones, but there are a few examples:
** The team's name "the guardians of the galaxy" is a mocking nickname given to the group by Ronan the Accuser. Peter throws it back in his face when they defeat him, with the implication that they may adopt it as a group name.
** Parodied with "Star-Lord", as Peter Quill introduces himself as that, but people just respond with confusion. When the space cops later look at his rap sheet, they comment that apparently the only person who calls Quill "Star-Lord" is ''himself''. Comically, he is ecstatic when, in the last act of the film, someone actually ''does'' call him Star-Lord.
** Inverted with Drax the Destroyer. In the comics, he's a transformed human named Arthur Douglas. In the movie, he's an alien and Drax is his real name (with the "Destroyer" nickname earned for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge).
** Rocket's full name in the comics is "Rocket Raccoon," but everyone calls him Rocket. It's justified by two reasons: 1) Rocket hates being called an animal, which the name clearly insinuates; and 2) he doesn't even know what a raccoon ''is''.
** One character is formally introduced, both here and in TheStinger of ''Thor: The Dark World'', as "Taneleer Tivan, the Collector", covering both real name and "codename" in one fell swoop.
** Like the Cosmic Cube example from ''Captain America'' and ''The Avengers'', nobody refers to Ronan's hammer as the Universal Weapon (partly because it never comes up; the bigger threat is Ronan himself).

* Shared among the various Netflix shows, the Chitauri invasion from ''The Avengers'' is simply known as "The Incident". The early script drafts for ''Daredevil'' were originally going to refer to it more directly, but it was found that the words "AlienInvasion" killed the mood the series was going for. As time goes on, the shows are more willing to directly refer to the attack and use the word "alien", especially in ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' and ''Series/LukeCage2016''.
** Another cross-show example is Claire Temple, a CompositeCharacter with the comics character codenamed "Night Nurse". In five seasons across four shows so far, the codename has only been mentioned once when a gangster referred to her as such in ''Luke Cage''.
* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'':
** Averted with ComicBook/{{Ultron}} and ComicBook/TheVision, who have no other names. Vision was originally referred to as a metaphorical vision of various characters', but later, Tony, and eventually Steve and Thor use it by the end of the movie, all in a way that indicates it's been adopted as his official name.
** Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are never referred to as ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} by way of WritingAroundTrademarks[[note]]due to the cinematic rights to the mutant characters being owned by 20th Century Fox, whose X-films have actually introduced their ''own'' Quicksilver[[/note]]. The closest is when Tony refers to Wanda as "that little witch".
*** Parodied by ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'':
-->...The Avengers roster bloats even further with '''Vision''', '''Scarlet Witch''' and '''Quicksilver''', who for some reason, are never called '''Vision''', '''Scarlet Witch''' or '''Quicksilver.'''
* ''Film/AntMan:'' The "ComicBook/AntMan" moniker is used by SHIELD (in its anti-Soviet propaganda films) to refer to Hank Pym. The latter then passes the title (along with the corresponding powered suit) to Scott Lang. Hank also explicitly refers to his wife Janet van Dyne as "ComicBook/TheWasp". "Yellowjacket" is the name for the new powered suit Darren Cross develops rather than a specific person's nickname, although he is the only person to use this technology in the movie.
** In ''Civil War'', Scott [[spoiler:uses his powers to grow to AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever size for the first time]], but none of the related codenames like [[spoiler:"Giant-Man" or "Goliath"]] are mentioned.

** Played with for Kilgrave. In the comics he's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Man The Purple Man]]", real name Zebediah Killgrave. In the show, he's simply "Kilgrave", and characters ''still'' [[RunningGag mock it as sounding like a blatant]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast scary name]], the kind of name a kid would come up with to sound threatening but is actually ridiculous. [[spoiler:It turns out that "Kilgrave" is an alias. His real name is Kevin Thompson, and he really ''is'' [[PsychopathicManchild that childish]].]] While he's never referred to as the "Purple Man" on screen, the name is still alluded to: most of his wardrobe is comprised of purple clothing, a purple tint is applied to a number of his scenes, and people affected by his mind control see the world covered in purple light. In the finale, he does start turning purple after getting a power boost, but even that is more subtle than the deep shade of his comic book version. He also starts turning purple as Jessica chokes him and breaks his neck.

* ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'' is another case where nobody has codenames to begin with. Yes, even our hero himself, who is legally [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Stephen Strange, MD]]. Like the Zemo example above, Baron Mordo is not actually a Baron here and is just called Karl Mordo.

* ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'': Spider-Man averted it early on, as in his debut appearance in ''Civil War'', Peter and Tony openly discuss his codename. ("You're, what? Spider-ling? Spider-Boy?" "...Spider-Man." "Not in that onesie.")
* ''Film/BlackPanther'': When the character is introduced in ''Civil War'', T'Challa mentions the name to explain why his costume is cat-themed, but it's otherwise unused. Even so, its existence is justified since it's not merely a codename but a tribal and royal title. In ''Age of Ultron'', ''Panther'' villain Ulysses Klaw appears under his original surname of ''Klaue'', instead of his supervillain name.

----

--->'''Rhomann Dey:''' Hey! If it isn't "Star-Prince."\\
'''Quill:''' Star-''Lord''.\\
'''Rhomann:''' Sorry; "Lord." ''[to his partner]'' I picked this guy up a while back for petty theft. He's got a ''code name!''\\
'''Quill:''' Come on, man, it's an ''outlaw'' name.\\
'''Rhomann:''' Relax, pal, it's cool to have a code name. It's not that weird.

In general, the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse goes out of its way to subvert, lampshade, and defy the concept of a SecretIdentity. None of the Avengers have one -- not even Iron Man, who had one for decades in the comics. Tony himself mocks how pointless it is and defies the trope by outing himself in the last scene of [[Film/IronMan1 his first film]] before the end credits. That isn't to say that the heroes don't have their comic codenames, though they are usually given to the characters by another source, either as propaganda, used as a military call sign, or are dubbed as such by the media: