After a summer of hot ugly rodent boyfriends and men in finance comes a fall filled with, drumroll, hunky beefcakes. That’s right, muscle-packed gym guys are celebrating a comeback after years and years of having to concede the spotlight to soft-muscled alt boys with a defined jawline (I’m speaking of Timothée Chalamet and Josh O’Connor, of course). Six-packed, six-foot tall men with an open shirt and soft stubbles are on the approach, so get ready people.

A hunky beefcake describes a good-looking man with well-developed abs. That’s pretty much it, in a nutshell. A pretty face and a hot bod. If you’re thinking to yourself ‘I don’t want to believe that big muscles are making a big comeback?’ Let’s take a look at the evidence, shall we? 

Exhibit A: Glen Powell. After a phenomenal turn in Top Gun: Maverick, an action movie in which he showed off his very own guns (speaking about his biceps), Powel gave his muscles more screen time in Hit Man and Anyone But You—a film that consistently felt the need to depict him in nothing more than swim shorts, but I’m not complaining.

The movies are essentially just montages of his blonde hair, sexy smirk, and rock-hard abs. That’s the whole plot, but again, I don’t think anyone minds.

Exhibit B: Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White in the biographical sports drama, The Iron Claw. The actors, who are already quite toned, still had to significantly bulk up to create this testosterone-bursting, speedo-donned, muscle festival of a movie. Rotten Tomatoes assigned an impressive score of 89 per cent to this visual spectacle of barely clad, sweaty male bodies ringing each other.

First look at A24’s ‘THE IRON CLAW’ starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Holt McCallany.

In theaters December 22, 2023. pic.twitter.com/wns9llv27b

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) July 27, 2023

“The Iron Claw” provides its biggest punch not in the wrestling ring, but in the emotional tragedy of its story. Zac Efron shows a more dramatic side of himself than we’ve seen before and the message of knowing how far to push oneself resonates. It’s sad but worth seeing. pic.twitter.com/beQoCIZbL1

— Kevin The Critic (@kevin_thecritic) December 27, 2023

Looking at the stills from this movie feels like flipping through the pages of a 2000s Abercrombie catalogue on steroids. Never thought that this is what the world needed but I like this surprise.

Exhibit C includes the hype around Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal in Gladiators—another bare-chested action movie with attractive men slung in either mud, oil, or both.

@flawlqes

pedro pascal nation we are so back #pedropascal #gladiator #gladiator2 #gladiatormovie #generalmarcusacacius #marcusacacius

♬ original sound - flawlqes

Exhibit D: Michael B Jordan in the Creed series. No further explanation is needed. I mean, this man directed himself. And let’s just say that he knew all his good angles. I was definitely drooling all over him but hey, eyes were made for looking.

My directorial debut?! Still sounds crazy to say but there's no film that has been more personal to me and no film I've felt more ready to steer. Excited to share the first trailer for Creed 3. To my cast & crew thanks for working so hard to continue the legacy of the franchise. pic.twitter.com/PSbOr2usdH

— Michael B. Jordan (@michaelb4jordan) October 18, 2022

Let’s just round it up with our last piece of evidence: Theo James. Where do we start with this unique specimen of man, who looks like he was grown in a lab run by TikTok girlies. James had a phenomenal comeback this year with his, you guessed it, action series The Gentleman. 

If you haven’t watched it, it’s probably because the show was neither for the gays nor the girls. But every once in a while the guys also need a special piece of TV to revel in and James served it up with much success.

theo james. pic.twitter.com/UxYxpYQM4G

— theo james army (@TheojamsArmy) August 2, 2024

The show lives purely from his hunky looks and boyish charm wrapped in English tweeds. And like a true gentleman, he manages to make our hearts race without ever taking his shirt off. Masterful.

Technically, the beefcake has always been in fashion as it is representative of stereotypical masculinity. It’s about having a boyfriend who won’t be afraid to handle the spider in your bedroom, check what that noise in your backyard was, and yes, looks like he could be on the cover of GQ. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

I mean, why not get a guy who can easily stem twice your body weight? It could come in handy during a fire. Just imagine him throwing you over his shoulder as he breaks open the door for you to escape through. Things would definitely be heating up quickly, and that’s not just because of the flames.

As we have explored the attractiveness of ‘hot ugly’ men, ‘ugly hot’ men, nerdy men and finance men, the rise of the hunky beefcake feels like a soft resurgence of archetypal manliness. And again, there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, inclusivity is about opening the doors to alternative versions of masculinity to give men more options for self-expression rather than completely disbanding a certain type of it.