A5 6 Superhero Landings: Do Not Try This at Home

Abstract

Superhero films often show characters dropping several storeys and landing in a one-knee “superhero pose” without injury. We model a 70 kg human-sized hero in free fall from heights of a few to ∼10 m, landing with one leg taking most of the vertical load. Assuming a rigid surface, a stopping distance of 0.30 m and an effective tibial cross-sectional area of 1.5 ×10^-4 m², we estimate decelerations and compressive stresses and compare them to typical bone failure values. Even under optimistic assumptions, “superhero landings” from more than a few metres appear likely to cause serious injury, and multi-storey drops are inconsistent with normal human bone strength.