“Way to go, furball.” That’s Wolverine’s pet name for Beast, andKelsey Grammeris blue again. However, the actor is beyond thrilled to have made that small cameo as Beast inThe Marvels. While the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flopped at the box office, Grammer did have the opportunity to reprise the role of the bright-blue X-Men in the mid-credits scene. Grammer talked about returning to the iconic role in an exclusive interview withEntertainment Tonight:
Beast is a passion for me. I’ve always wanted to be a blue person — and now I am in film.
Grammer’s cameo as Beast inThe Marvelshelps open the doorway for the X-Men to walk through and into the MCU. While Mutants already exist in the MCU, Professor X’s (Patrick Stewart) brief appearance inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessarguably being the leading example, Grammer remains tight-lipped on whether fans can expect to see his version of Beast in any of the upcoming films. Grammer did tell ET:
There’s been some discussion. I’ve always wanted to play him again.
Grammer first donned the guise of Hank McCoy, aka Beast, inX-Men: The Last Stand(2006), and it’s the only film featuring his iteration of the character with any meaningful amount of screen time. Grammer did return at the conclusion ofX-Men: Days of Future Pastafter Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) helped repair the damage done by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) to stop the extinction of Mutants at the hands of the Sentinels.
Related:The Strongest X-Men Characters in the Franchise’s Movie History
Beast Returns in The Marvels
The Marvels
Nine years passed before Kelsey Grammer returned to the role of Beast inThe Marvels. While the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe struggled to find an audience during its theatrical run, Beast’s inclusion teases the triumphant arrival of even more Mutants inthe MCU’s upcoming phases. And for Grammer, the thespian is playing a role again that he thought he’d been forced to pass off to Nicholas Hoult. Grammer said in the same interview with ET:
“I did the role… we were in Cannes, it was a big premiere, it was all being celebrated, people were taking a bow and all this nonsense. I thought, well, we finally arrived! And they came up and said we found this fabulous new direction for the franchise. I thought, ‘This is it. I’ve made it. I’m finally in a franchise movie — and they said that they were gonna go back in time and Beast was gonna be younger. Then I slowly deduced that I was not included.”
Grammer added:
It’s a great feather in my cap now that to have him come back and have people still be interested in seeing who was arguably the greatest Beast ever.
Technically, the honor of being the first two Mutants in the MCU goes to theScarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), but Joss Whedon decided to “enhance” the classic characters for the big screen rather than introducing them as the Mutants they really are in Marvel Comics. Other Mutants who have made appearances in the MCU in addition to Beast, include the aforementioned Professor X (Stewart), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), Namor (Tenoch Huerta), El Águila (Joseph Castillo-Midyett) and Mr. Immortal (David Pasquesi).
