Why one of the X-Men’s most popular superheroes is actually their best secret villain – SlashFilm

We may receive a commission on purchases made through links.

The X-Men’s corner of the Marvel Universe features little mutant superheroes. If you’re looking for the most important members of the X-Men, however, you’ll have to save room for Hank McCoy / Beast, the blue-haired scientist, ​​who quotes Shakespeare.

Beast was one of Professor X’s first five students, along with Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman and Angel. Originally written as a passionate fighter like The Thing from The Fantastic Four, he quickly grew to become the brains and heart of the team. Beast was not a major character in Chris Claremont’s “X-Men” from 1975 to 1991, which wrote half of the original team to bring in new heroes like Wolverine and Storm. (In the 1970s, Beast joined the Avengers instead.)

However, Beast returned to the team in the 1990s, where he was also a main character in the “X-Men” animated series (played by George Buza, who later had a cameo in the first “X-Men” film). The character established the Beast as the softest of the X-Men. He went on to become the lead character in every subsequent “X-Men” film, and was played in Kelsey Grammer’s later Nicholas Hoult films.

Grammar is set to return as the Beast in “Avengers: Doomsday,” but the latest Marvel comic may feature an even more sinister twist. During Krakoa’s “X-Men” comics, especially “X-Force” by Benjamin Percy, the Beast became more brutal and eventually became a villain.

The first story to feature the Beast as a villain was the 1995 “Age of Apocalypse” crossover, set in an alternate timeline where the Beast was a mad scientist working for Apocalypse. This so-called “Dark Beast” (to separate him from the real McCoy) soon crossed over into the regular Marvel universe and became a recurring villain, and other stories later took on the interesting ways of that changing perspective on the character.

Krakoa’s “X-Men” era feels like a conversation with Grant Morrison’s 2001-2004 “New X-Men.” Morrison’s last novel, “Here Comes Tomorrow,” suggested that the original Beast would go down a dark path.

“Here Comes Tomorrow” is set 150 years in the future. The world is broken and I am very thankful for The The Beast, as Hank has come to be known (evoking the seven-headed beast from the Book of Revelation called “The Beast”). His fur has turned gray, and he wears a cloak reminiscent of Magneto. The Beast is now a mad scientist obsessed with evolution in the vein of Mister Sinister. He created an army of cannon fodder, the Crawlers, similar to the classic X-Man Nightcrawler but with some mutant abilities embedded in their DNA.

Amazing branches

But in the middle, the story reveals that the Beast is not what he appears to be. Decades ago, the Beast possessed a dangerous microscopic creature: “Sublime.” Mutants are the first form of life on Earth that Sublime has not been able to inhabit, so it sees Homo Superior as a threat to its existence and is determined to exterminate most of humanity. As Wolverine notes about The Beast: “That’s not Henry McCoy, it’s just what’s left of his body.”

However, the idea of ​​the Beast as a villain persisted – as did the Sublime hidden in the Beast’s cells – and resurfaced in the Krakoa era. The purpose of the Krakoa comics is that the changes in the world found a new community on an unknown living island. A secret team of X-Men, X-Force, is assembled in Krakoa’s intelligence agency, like the CIA has changed. Beast takes on a leadership role in X-Force, and the weight of that responsibility breaks his moral code.

Like Magneto (and his ultimate villain, Professor X), the Beast is someone who is willing to do bad things for what they are. you agree it is a great benefit. After all, he i a wise man, and wise men excel at convincing themselves that they are right.

For example, in the beginning Krakoa has no partners. They bribed the international government by providing the world with advanced medical technology, but the world still hates and fears the revolutionaries. The South American country of Terra Verde is also using its plant biotech (“telefloronics”) as a means of preventing change; the telefloronics connect with the human host and turn them into a powerful weapon that heals quickly, but if confused, they can control the host.

The Beast eventually hijacks this technology to seize control of Terra Verde; the country is conquered by Krakoa by hiding the kettola and becomes Krakoa’s public friend, but secret accomplice. Then, during Krakoa’s “Hellfire Gala”, when dignitaries from all over the world visit the country, the Beast tries to use Terra Verde’s emissaries to spread the infection (and his control) to other countries.

In the end, Beast became the final villain of Percy’s “X-Force”. Until now, he needed to be literally rehabilitated; The original “Beast” died, and was replaced by a clone with the memories of the Beast until it was the Avengers. The Beast is back as a hero in the post-Krakoa “X-Men” comics, but he is tormented by the knowledge of how bad he can be. did be.

The X-Men is one of the few superhero teams with a lot of former villains on the roster, but the opposite can also be true: Sometimes, heroes like Beast turn out to be memorable characters. Will Marvel Studios be inspired by that idea for “Avengers: Doomsday?” It will definitely be a way to impress someone you know.