New research has found that male superheroes are all too often obese – while superheroines are often underweight.

That is the finding of scientists who have analysed thousands of characters, including those in the new cinema blockbuster Avengers: Endgame.

From drawings in comic books and movie adaptations, experts calculated the body mass index, or BMI, of Marvel characters such as Iron Man, Captain America (as played by Chris Evans, left) and Thor, and found they had an average of 30.8.

Results between 18.5 and 25 are normal, those above 25 are classed as overweight and anything over 30 is officially obese. However, the results may be misleading as BMI makes no distinction between fat and muscle.