Chris Hemsworth’s uber-jacked arms spark debate about male body standards

Chris Hemsworth’s physique is a subject of fascination at the best of times but new photos of the Hollywood heartthrob have invited more than just lustful longings.

A snap of the 37-year old stood beside Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi has sparked a widespread debate about the almost inhuman body standards to which male action stars are held.

Hemsworth shared the snap on Instagram to mark a wrap on filming for the Marvel movie, but while it certainly generated excitement for the upcoming release it also invited a flurry of comments on the actor’s bulging biceps.

Of course, countless social media users were impressed and even awe-stricken by his trunk-sized arms.

However, others were quick to accuse the Australian star – who is also playing WWE legend Hulk Hogan in a new Netflix biopic – of using steroids to achieve his “jacked” build.

Here’s just a glimpse at some of their reactions:

Meanwhile, journalist Angelica Bastien posted a threat about the “unhealthy expectations” such images promote.

She tweeted on Wednesday: “Man...the bodily expectations for male stars is...kinda sad,” adding: “It’s so interesting to me that modern celebrity is undergirded by this expectation of relatability when their bodies and what they do to them is anything but.”

She continued: “I can’t believe some of y’all are defending these warped bodily expectations on male stars. like is it the marvel thing? Are you not able to see that there is a wide breadth of bodies to be shown that don’t require the actors to be jacked into oblivion?”

Fellow Twitter users weighed in by citing examples of other actors who have suffered in their bid to bulk up for a role:

And while some argued that such corporeal standards only applied to a small group of actors tasked with playing superheroes:

Others admitted that images of hench stars made them feel less comfortable in themselves:

However, another group of commentators said they did not feel pressured to emulate these gargantuan physiques:

All we can say is, stay healthy everyone. There are very few people in the world with biceps as big as their head and that’s no bad thing.