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I recently read an article that claims Hawkeye, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch are never called by their comic-book names in the movies. While I'm pretty sure this is true for the Witch, I'm less sure about Black Widow and Hawkeye, partly because they've been around for longer and in more movies.

Now, I recall Selvig calling Barton "The Hawk" right before his first scene in Avengers, but I'm talking about references involving the full names: "Black Widow" and "Hawkeye".

Are there no characters that call them Hawkeye or Black Widow? Is there not even an Easter Egg referring to these monikers?

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  • I'm at work right now, so can't check, but I believe there's a snarky comment in Deadpool 2 about Hawkeye.
    – Adrien
    Dec 3, 2018 at 18:26
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    @Adrien The Deadpool movies aren't part of the MCU. (Though after Deadpool 2 it could be argued that they are part of the Days of Future Past timeline of the X-Men universe.)
    – Abion47
    Dec 3, 2018 at 18:30
  • @Abion47 Fair enough, I wasn't sure if they counted.
    – Adrien
    Dec 3, 2018 at 18:48

3 Answers 3

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Yes, at least once.

Barton is referred to as Hawkeye in Age of Ultron:

Laura Barton: What about Nat and Dr. Banner? How long has that been going on?

Clint Barton: Has what? [Laura laughs]

Laura Barton: You are so cute.

Clint Barton: Nat and...and Banner?

Laura Barton: I'll explain when you're older, Hawkeye.

Romanoff is referred to as Widow in Age of Ultron:

James Rhodes: Come on, Cap.

Steve starts pulling on the hammer and manages to budge it a little; Thor looks a little alarmed. Steve still fails to lift it; Thor laughs with relief]

Thor: Nothing.

Tony Stark: And?

Bruce Banner: Widow?

Natasha Romanoff: Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered.

Tony Stark: All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged.

Clint Barton: You bet your ass.

In Avengers, the Russian general calls Natasha "The famous Black Widow" in Russian

Specifically, he speaks the line “Знаменитая Чёрная Вдова” (“Znamenitaya Chyornaya Vdova”), subtitled onscreen as “The famous Black Widow”; Google Translate confirms the translation.

A computer screen also has their names as:"Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow" and "Clint Barton. Hawkeye"

At 03:04 in this YouTube clip: screenshot

Credit goes to @ash108 for finding this.

During the Battle of New York, Natasha calls out to Barton using his Hawkeye moniker

See the very beginning of this clip

Credit goes to @UselessInfoMine for finding this.

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    Just having it in the on-screen subtitles would be sufficient and official. OTOH, it is nice to know that what's actually said by the actor means what the on-screen subtitles say. The actual process was probably that the script was originally written with something like: General: [in Russian]: "The famous Black Widow ...". That portion of the script would then be sent out for professional translation. The subtitles would be based on the original in the script. What the actor says on the day may or may not be checked (with the level of budget for this film, it probably was).
    – Makyen
    Dec 3, 2018 at 17:48
  • confirmed with DeepL also deepl.com#ru/en/Знаменитая%20Чёрная%20Вдова
    – Zombo
    Dec 5, 2018 at 0:38
  • @Makyen Oh, I wish such things were always send “sent out for professional translation”. More than often, it’s rather unprofessional translation or not even sent out because of an actor’s “of course, I speak ⟨language⟩” promise…
    – Holger
    Dec 5, 2018 at 7:50
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    @Holger I agree that it's common for translations to be ... less than perfect. Perhaps I'm a bit naive, but I'd expect something that had the budget of the Avenger films to be a bit more likely to be thorough/professional in this regard.
    – Makyen
    Dec 5, 2018 at 8:00
  • @Makyen Fully agree. The pronunciation also leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least. For example, in Iron Man 2 I have no clue what Ivan is saying half the time although I'm a native Russian speaker. I remember Tom Cruise did a great job in Mission Impossible 4, I wish actors of MCU did the same.
    – Malcolm
    Mar 12, 2019 at 17:16
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An additional instance not mentioned already:

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, during the climactic helicarrier battle sequence:

Soldier (on radio): Sir, the council's been breached.

Brock Rumlow: Repeat dispatch.

Soldier (on radio): Black Widow is up there.

Brock Rumlow: Headed up!

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They’re all at some point named their comic book aliases. I can see that Hawkeye and Black Widow have already been answered, so I’ll do Wanda:

During Wandavision she’s called Scarlet Witch by Agatha Harkness:

[WANDA] Let go of my children.

[AGNES] Oh, yes, your children. And Vision, and this whole little life you’ve made, this is Chaos Magic, Wanda. And that makes you the Scarlet Witch.

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