Things You Didn't Know You Needed To Know

[woodwardiocom]

How many times are superhero codenames used in the Avengers movie?

• Thor: Doesn't count, since it's his actual name.
• Hawkeye: Once as "Hawk", once as "Hawkeye".
• Black Widow: Once, in Russian.
• Iron Man: Once. (And only at the very end.)
• Hulk: Six times.
• Captain America: Three times.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I did pay attention to the careful avoidance of saying "the Hulk," because it had such a feel of verbal taboo about it, like talking about "the fair folk" instead of their real name. But the rest, not so much.

[mizarchivist]

That reminds me, I have to watch with commentary on.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Does your tally include times that Tony Stark calls Steve Rogers "Cap"?

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Nope, only the full name.

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

I think that's partially because the film Avengers draw more heavily from the Ultimate books than the old-style Marvel Universe where the idea of a secret identity actually mattered. The Widow and Hawkeye aren't superheroes in the traditional sense; they're spies and government operatives. Everyone already knows who Iron Man and Captain America are and they walk around in civvies or maskless as much as they do costumed. It's not clear if the Hulk/Banner connection is public knowledge but given the number of folks on the SHIELD carrier, it would seem like a hard thing to keep a secret for very long. If superhero teams were real, they would have gone to callsign designations a long time ago, all "Rogue 5 standing by, Rogue 3 standing by..." It'd be terribly confusing for the little girl with the white stripe in her hair from Mississippi, but it'd be much more efficient in a fight. :)