5 MCU Heroes Whose Superhero Identities Were Revealed By Someone Else

Although it should really be up to the heroes themselves, there have been five in the MCU whose secret identities were revealed by other people, with the most recent occurring in Daredevil: Born Again. The MCU set a new precedent with its superheroes when it decidedly did away with the secret identity trope in Iron Man, as Tony Stark declared himself to be Iron Man in a now-iconic MCU moment. For the most part, all of his Avengers teammates several years later were on the same page with the likes of Thor even doing away with a superhero moniker altogether.

Nevertheless, several MCU heroes have opted to keep their identities hidden. For the most part, this is done to keep those they love safe, as villains are wont to target what they consider to be a hero’s greatest weakness. Others use masks to operate in a more morally gray space, keeping their real identity hidden as a way of circumventing the law or avoiding besmirching their legacy. In the following cases, however, these identities were unwittingly revealed nonetheless.

5

Kate Bishop Inadvertently Caused Hawkeye To Reveal His Shady Past As Ronin

Kate Bishop Wore Ronin’s Costume In Public

Hawkeye saw the titular hero unwittingly emerge from retirement due to his shady past being dredged up. As Ronin, Hawkeye was responsible for killing countless criminals – though he was mostly able to achieve this in secret during the space between the Snap and the Blip. After retiring the mantle when his family returned, Hawkeye then learned that his Ronin suit was being used by a stranger, forcing him to unveil himself to Bishop (and later Maya Lopez) before working to bury the Ronin legacy for good.

One in-universe year prior, however, Hawkeye’s secret was also discovered by Natasha Romanoff. Tracking him down to Tokyo in the midst of his massacring a sect of Yakuza members, Natasha Romanoff was able to win Hawkeye over to the Avengers once more and enlist his help in bringing all those killed by Thanos back. It is feasible that Hawkeye’s violent secret was subsequently revealed to the remaining Avengers at this point, though they didn’t hold it against him.

4

Steve Rogers Revealed That The Winter Soldier Was His Best Friend All Along

Steve Rogers Publicly Exposed Bucky Barnes

To all but Marvel Comics aficionados, the true identity of the titular villain in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was entirely unknown. It then fell to Captain America himself to reveal the truth: that his best friend from the 1940s, Bucky Barnes, was hiding beneath the mask. Steve inadvertently revealed this during one of their fights, during which he knocked Bucky’s mask from his face. To add insult to injury, it might have been a lot easier for Steve to harbor his fugitive friend in Captain America: Civil War had he not done so so publicly.

3

Mysterio Unmasked Spider-Man To The World And Framed Him For Murder

Mysterio Forced Spider-Man Into Using The Runes Of Kof-Kol

The master of illusions, Mysterio, was introduced to Peter Parker by Talos, disguised as Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home, swiftly making him one of the few people to know Parker’s identity. This would be a decision that Peter would come to bitterly regret, as Mysterio’s Hail Mary before death saw him fabricate footage in which Spider-Man looks like a merciless killer. Revealing his identity to New York and the world would then set Spider-Man on a tumultuous course to cause everyone (ultimately, including those he loves most) to forget Peter Parker entirely.

2

SHIELD And Hydra’s Files On Black Widow’s Dark History Were Revealed

Natasha Romanoff Willfully Released Hydra’s Information On Her Black Widow History

Technically, Black Widow revealed the secrets that both SHIELD and Hydra had about her shady past as a KGB assassin to the world herself, after releasing all of SHIELD’s secret files on the internet in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Then again, were it not for these files being compiled in the first place, Black Widow’s red ledger might have remained buried for good. The main thing is that Natasha Romanoff did the right thing by releasing the files, proving how she had reformed since her darker days.

1

Matt Murdock Reveals Hector Ayala Is White Tiger As A Successful Last Resort

Matt Murdock’s Plan Ultimately Led To White Tiger’s Death

Daredevil: Born Again recently introduced a brand-new New York-based vigilante to the MCU in the form of Hector Ayala, AKA White Tiger. White Tiger is seen relatively early on in the series engaging in street-level heroics in what looks like a homemade costume to reflect his moniker, complete with a full-face-covering cowl. After doing the “right thing” when seeing a man being attacked in the New York subway and intervening, Ayala is subsequently arrested by a corrupt cop and put on trial for the murder of his colleague, who had actually tripped and fallen into a speeding train.

When defending Ayala in court, Matt Murdock discovers the truth of Ayala’s vigilantism. Unable to weather the scale of corruption in New York’s police force, he then uses this to their advantage by surprising everyone with the truth: that Ayala is White Tiger, whose past actions help to prove him incapable of murdering police in cold blood. While this does win Ayala his freedom, Daredevil: Born Again is the first MCU production to depict the lethal results of being unwittingly unmasked, as White Tiger is subsequently trapped and killed in revenge.

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Daredevil: Born Again

9/10

Release Date

March 4, 2025

Showrunner

Chris Ord

Directors

Michael Cuesta, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Writers

Chris Ord

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