Once exclusively found within the pages of comic books, superheroes have found their way to the small and then silver screen, becoming bankable cinematic icons in the process. Today superheroes have never been more popular. In this holy-moly countdown, based on the results of an exclusive Channel 4 poll, we reveal which do-gooders the British public have taken to their hearts.

The programme charts the history of big-screen heroics from the release of the ground-breaking Superman: The Movie in 1978 through to the high-profile releases arriving in cinemas this year.

Along the way, viewers are given a chance to revisit Tim Burton’s noir-themed iteration of Batman in the 1990s, the angst-filled antics of the X-Men and Spider-Man in the early noughties, and the far-reaching storylines of Marvel’s inter-connected Avengers films. But which five superheroes have captured the hearts and minds of the British public?