Avengers: Endgame behind-the-scenes clip shows Chris Hemsworth becoming fat Thor

The use of a fat suit to convey depression sparked accusations that the Marvel blockbuster was “fat-shaming” Thor

New footage from behind-the-scenes of Avengers: Endgame shows Chris Hemsworth being encased in a fat suit, for scenes depicting a “fat Thor” that proved controversial upon release.

In the clip, which was posted to the Marvel Entertainment YouTube page, Hemsworth is shown jiggling his rubber belly after it is fitted onto his body, and remarking that it was “hugely liberating and fun” to play the depressed version of the God of Thunder.

“We had a big sort of fat suit that I think was 60 or 70 pounds,” Hemsworth says. “It was the hottest I’ve ever been. And we had the beard and the hair and these things that went in my mouth to plump out my cheeks a bit.”

He is later seen joking on set while in character, introducing himself as “Thor, 22 years old, I live on Asgard and I love sugar”.

Thor’s rotund physique, explained as a symptom of his depression over failing to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from killing half of the planet, proved controversial upon release. Fans took to social media with complaints that the story, and the jokes made at Thor’s expense by other characters, were an example of fat-shaming.

In June, Hemsworth denied accusations that the film fat-shamed Thor, telling Variety that it “was a perfect description of where Thor was in his life at that time. I love that version of Thor. There’s a vulnerability to that character and to that version that I think we hadn’t seen before... I think it’s fantastic.”