Marvel superheroes would all suffer from chronic health conditions in old age

Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia have analysed all 25 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies and assessed the health of the main characters.

The Hulk's heart problems, excess weight, and constant anger means he is at risk from a number of chronic diseases while Spider-Man's nightly crime-fighting means he could suffer from mental health problems as he is not getting the amount of sleep recommended for teenagers.

The study's co-author, Ruth Hubbard, said: "I thought it was funny - but also a bit sad to present such a negative view of their futures.

"This made me reflect on how the superheroes might actually age and whether there were some lessons from my understanding of ageing and frailty that could be applied to predict their ageing trajectories."

The report was published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal and Hubbard says it proves how health behaviours can have an impact on ageing.

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