They Fight Crime By Night, But By Day...
The fun thing with superheroes isn't that they fight crime and take down bad guys. It's that they often have the same mundane and boring jobs as we do, except for Bruce Wayne, of course. To make you feel better about your career, here are 20 superheroes with ordinary day jobs.
1. Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Peter Parker might spend a lot of time webslinging through the New York City skyline, but he also takes a lot of flak from J. Jonah Jameson when he misses a deadline. Peter Parker is a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle, a thankless job if there ever was one.
2. Wonder Woman/Diana Prince
Diana Prince is a museum curator, which is kind of cool, but doesn't match the heroic feats of her alter ego or her upbringing as an Amazonian warrior. It's a quiet job, but it does serve as an ideal cover for when she needs to hunt down artifacts.
3. Daredevil/Matt Murdock
A career in law is far less glamorous than a lot of movies and TV shows would have you think. Murdock, however, takes cases where innocent people are wronged, and if justice isn't found in the courtroom, then he takes to the streets as Daredevil.
Marvel Studios / Netflix on Wikimedia
4. Ant-Man/Scott Lang
Ant-Man can transform into a microscopic version of himself, but his alter ego, Scott Lang, probably feels even smaller in his day job as an electronics expert. His technical knowledge does come in handy when he needs to pull off a daring heist.
5. Black Canary/Dinah Lance
In her comic books, Black Canary has a few different day jobs. The one that stands out as the most ordinary is running a florist shop. She also took turns being a singer and a legal aid.
6. Nightwing/Dick Grayson
After ditching his role as Batman's sidekick, Dick Grayson became Nightwing and took a day job as a cop. While the job is ordinary, it afforded him the opportunity of fighting crime inside and outside of the legal system.
7. Jean Grey
Jean Grey doesn't have a cool superhero name, and her day job as a teacher and school administrator is just as boring. She has the luxury of not needing an alter ego, which allows her to pursue any job she wants. We guess she went with the easiest option by working at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
8. Zatanna Zatara/Zatanna
A powerful sorceress in the DC universe, Zatanna works as a stage magician to pay her bills. It's unfair to the other magicians, but being a magician with actual magical powers is the ideal cover and a great way to practice her supernatural abilities.
9. Moon Knight/Marc Spector
Moon Knight, the god-like vigilante who assumes different identities, has had a few jobs since he first appeared in comics. The one that sticks out as the most run-of-the-mill is when he was a taxi driver.
10. Jessica Jones
Being a private investigator seems like an exciting gig, but it's really not. Jessica Jones's job gets her in a lot of hot water, but it's also a lot of sitting around, and there's a low barrier to entry.
Promifotos.de at German Wikipedia (Original text: Alexander Hauk) on Wikimedia
11. Wally West/The Flash
Wally West is one of the few characters who got to be The Flash. He's held a couple of jobs, like an auto mechanic and a scientist, neither of which is very exciting. Too bad his ability to run fast didn't make his work days go by any quicker.
12. Catwoman/Selina Kyle
Selina Kyle moonlights as the Catwoman, Gotham's infamous cat burglar, but during the day, she's an antiques dealer. It lets her fence stolen items, but she probably has to deal with a lot of people shopping for fine china and old wardrobes.
13. Cyborg/Victor Stone
Anyone who tells you that they're a consultant is probably looking for work. Cyborg is a member of the Justice League and works as a consultant, where he gets to apply his amazing technical knowledge to create cutting-edge systems. Still, it's not jam-packed with thrills.
14. The Green Arrow/Oliver Queen
Oliver Queen could have just lived as a wealthy playboy, but instead chose to run for mayor. While this is a high-profile job, it's also extremely bureaucratic and involves a lot of busy work. It's no wonder he spends his nights as a vigilante after spending his day pushing reform.
15. Luke Cage
Luke Cage owns a bar in Hell's Kitchen, which means he's pouring beer and wiping down tables. It has its exciting moments, but being a small business owner is rather ho-hum for a superhero of Luke Cage's talents.
16. Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan
This one is a bit of a cheat, but we all know how boring AP Bio can be. Khan is still a teenager, so she's stuck in high school, even while she's joining Captain Marvel on an intergalactic adventure.
PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay
17. Beast/Hank McCoy
Beast is one of the more brilliant superheroes, but he toils away as a scientist when not fighting Magneto and Juggernaut. There's nothing wrong with being a scientist, but there's a lot of waiting around for lab results compared to his more exciting double life as a key member of the X-Men.
National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
18. Falcon/Sam Wilson
Sam Wilson is a military man, but has also worked as a social worker and youth counselor. These important jobs let him work with marginalized people or those desperate for help, but it is still rather ordinary.
19. Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards
Another scientist makes the list. Reed Richards is a decorated and revered scientist, but that doesn't make it any less ordinary. One of Marvel's most endearing superheroes, Richards uses his scientific brain to combat enemies, but he's often found writing equations on blackboards.
20. Silk/Cindy Moon
Cindy Moon works as a newsroom intern, putting her close to the action for when she needs to become her superhero alter ego, Silk. If being a journalist is dreary, and being a freelance photographer like Peter Parker is even worse, imagine how it feels to spend your day as their intern.
