Show business has a long history of muscle-bound idols, but the rise of the superhero genre – where actors routinely appear as something more than human – prompted an escalation that seems to have swept across the western world.
Is it possible that the reveal of a transformed Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Captain America: The First Avenger was actually a tiny domino, eventually leading us to the viral appeal of raw meat-guzzling influencer The Liver King? Erm, I don't know.
With comic book adaptations losing fans faster than an Infinity Gauntleted snap, perhaps its time that the archetypal male protagonist comes back to Earth – and shows audiences that there is more than one way to live well.
After all, the current crop of leading men are arguably doing the opposite.
These comments represent an all too, often ignored side of blockbuster cinema's relentless flow of pecs, abs and biceps, which are a "full-time job" for A-list actors – in the words of This Morning's resident GP, Dr Zoe Williams.
And even with such an elaborate support network, actors aren't without "risk" of complications. Both Cavill and Hugh Jackman warned fans not to try dehydration regimens at home as the torturous practice can cause dizziness, kidney damage and heat stroke, among other side effects.
"They're choosing to [take that risk] for the cause," acknowledges Williams; a cause that encompasses not just the crowd-pleasing artwork itself, but also the several millions of dollars often paid out for these performances.
Both BBC News and Men's Health have reported boys getting into bulking and bodybuilding from the age of just 13.
However risky Hollywood's professional body sculpting might be, social media is comparably a wild west of unqualified advice and theories, that have taken the baton from Marvel's godlike hunks and scarpered into a warped alternate universe.
"And the people educating them are not likely to be healthcare professionals or even fitness professionals, but just other people who have maybe succeeded in achieving a certain physique in a way that works for them.
"But we're all different... what works for one person won't work for another; what's safe for one person, won't be safe for another."
Notably, Johnson's gains were revealed to be the result of steroids, as opposed to the staggering amount of uncooked organs he consumed; he later conceded that he was "wrong" about the diet that he once championed (see Netflix's Untold: The Liver King, if you have a strong stomach).
Of course, that hasn't stopped a growing number of young men from pursuing a similar "carnivore" lifestyle, spurred on by Johnson and creators of his ilk – including those from the so-called 'manosphere' addressed by recent miniseries Adolescence.
Scientists and environmentalists have long called for reducing our consumption of meat and animal products, due to their sizeable impact on climate change; in total, food systems produce one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
This has been misconstrued by influential 'alpha male' voices as an attack on men, including those pushing to attain a superhero body by adopting what nutritionist Federica Amati describes as "unnecessarily high protein targets" (via The Guardian).
In particular, the effects of chicken farming seem to go underestimated; although they do create less carbon per unit than cows or lambs, the ever-increasing number of chickens being reared poses other problems, including massive antibiotic use and deforestation in the production of animal feed.
That last point is especially worrying, as Clare Oxborrow, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, highlights that individual citizens attempting to take "ownership" over their dietary habits shouldn't be left to do so "on their own".
"A lot of the impacts from the way people eat – whether on [personal] health or the planet – will, in large part, be dictated by the food environment that they're living in," she said. "And obviously, food companies are particularly responsible for creating that environment, but also governments for failing to regulate them properly."
The prominence of such figures, across pop culture and social media, are surely a contributing factor to the sharp rise in body dysmorphia among men, which has driven some to steroid usage in pursuit of a demigod build.
"One of the key things here is that a healthy body and an aesthetic body are not the same thing. There's this belief we've been fed that a 'six pack' equals health and it doesn't, actually."
Nor was it taken for granted in decades' past; looking back to the action men of the '80s and '90s, there was more diversity in build sizes than there is today.
A return to action heroes with genuinely attainable bodies could provide reassurance to those in the grip of (or on the path towards) crippling insecurities or extreme gym habits – which brings me back to Mr Benedict Cumberbatch.
But it leaves us with questions. Chiefly, why do it then?
Would the Sorcerer Supreme's sparkly little spells be deemed simply too far-fetched if he was as slender as past screen magicians, like Colin Morgan's Merlin or Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter?
Banning single-use plastics on set or installing a green energy generator are valid steps in lessening the impact that production has on our planet, but sustainability bosses can't keep looking away from the engorged diets of their stars.
Also, as long as the superhero body is held up as the apex of male accomplishment, it will be harder to defuse unhelpful notions that (meat-derived) protein is inherently tied to manliness, thus making the transition to greener diets more painful than it need be.
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