On average, a movie’s climax takes up about 15 to 20% of the total runtime. It’s the culmination of everything that’s been happening so far coming to a head. Think of the Avengers all coming together to put Thanos down, or the Justice League facing off against an alien armada. It’s the sort of high-stakes spectacle that will have people buzzing for hours or even days after they leave the cinema.
That said, movies have to focus on the exciting stuff. They don’t have the time to dedicate to how superheroes spend their free time. Does Batman play golf? Does Iron Man cool off by playing video games? Does Doctor Strange open portals to peek at his opponents’ cards in poker? The movies might not tell us, but it’s fun to speculate how our favorite fictional heroes may be more like regular people in the long run.
So, let’s indulge in some creative thinking and figure out what boring, regular hobbies our most-admired heroes might have.
The Tactical Mind: Hawkeye and Green Arrow
Characters like Hawkeye live and die by their archery. As such, for characters like Clint Barton and Oliver Queen, it’s not enough to draw fast and hope for the best. Their skillset depends on quickly assessing the battlefield, picking out the best target, and the best way to launch an arrow at the problem to fix it. As such, the tactically minded heroes will likely pick something that’ll keep them sharp and focused for whenever the call of duty sounds.
For these characters, digital puzzles and card games are a boring but sensible pick. After all, games like tripeaks solitaire online are free to play and can be completed in a Barry Allen. They keep characters on their toes, they hone those all-important pattern recognition skills they rely on, and they’re fun to play. That makes them the perfect choice for high-level archers who may need to drop everything at a moment’s notice to go save the world.
The Master Detective: Batman
Bruce Wayne wears his cover as a billionaire playboy well, but anyone who followed the story of the Caped Crusader knows that’s not his true passion. Much like an actor pretends to be a character, the Bruce Wayne seen by the public is little more than a performance. For Batman, there’s nothing but the relentless pursuit of justice, and his hobbies would likely reflect that.
Staying competitive as a regular person in a world of people with superpowers requires physical and mental prowess, and Batman would probably combine both. The crime in Gotham never sleeps, so there’s no time to do a grueling exercise session and follow it up with a difficult Riddler puzzle. No, Bruce Wayne is likely a chronic multitasker, tackling several things at once to keep his instincts sharp and body at peak performance.
The Sorcerer Supreme: Doctor Strange
When you have the power of magic at your fingertips, regular human hobbies must feel quite boring. However, Doctor Strange made it to the top of the world as a neurosurgeon before the accident damaged his hands and put him on the path to become Earth’s magical defender. As such, we imagine his hobbies are rather down-to-earth, yet still intellectually stimulating.
Part of being a doctor is a commitment to continued learning, and it wouldn’t surprise us at all if Stephen Strange still kept up with every medical journal out there. Alternatively, he’d probably want to keep his hands well practiced. He might not be able to hold a scalpel anymore, but those spells still require precise hand gestures. As such, we can totally see Doctor Strange floating around the place solving Rubik’s cubes without ever looking at them.
The Tech Genius: Iron Man or Mister Fantastic
Some people just have a knack for technology. If you’re Tony Stark or Reed Richards, you’ve got the engineering mastery most people can only dream of. Regular people need a guide on how to build a gaming PC. Iron Man can probably make all the components by himself in one afternoon and have them rival the performance of a supercomputer.
Given the prominent role technology plays for these characters, we don’t doubt tinkering is the way they prefer to unwind. Projects that might take someone months are done in an afternoon on a whim. Tony Stark gets tired of fetching his own wrench? He doesn’t move it closer, he makes a fully functional robotic arm for the sole purpose of handing him the wrench.
Hero R&R
Part of the job of a superhero is always being on call. As such, they rarely have the privilege of shutting their brains off completely, not when a crisis could break out at any moment. As such, the way heroes unwind is all about doing something relaxing but stimulating.
Next time you’re idling in a long checkout line or waiting for a meeting to start, take a page out of the superhero playbook. You might not be able to put together a Riddler puzzle, but a few quick puzzle levels on your phone will keep you sharp and ready to take on the day.
