While the comic book genre is endlessly popular nowadays, there was a time when these projects were seen as major risks. The original X-Men trilogy was ahead of its time in that way, which came to an end with its ill-fated threequel The Last Stand. That movie featured the debut of Kelsey Grammer as Beast, a role he recently reprised. And after returning to Beast in The Marvels, Grammer recalls being replaced in his role following X-Men 3.
The Marvels’ credits scene shocked fans when Kelsey Grammer’s Beast was shown speaking with Monica Rambeau. Fans are already curious about whether he’ll appear in another upcoming Marvel movie, hopefully uniting the X-Men in the process. Grammer recently spoke to ET Online about the ups and down he’s had as Hank McCoy, saying:
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.
Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. It sounds like Kelsey Grammer was fully expecting to return for X-Men: First Class when he heard rumblings of its development. But a new cast of actors was brought in, with Nicholas Hoult taking on the role of Beast.
While Grammer only got to star as Beast in one movie, he has been brought back for a few cameos. He got to appear at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, revealing that Wolverine succeeded in changing the apocalyptic future. And now Grammer is back in the cameo game thanks to his sequence in The Marvels.
And it sounds like Kelsey Grammer has been pleased with the way the public reacted to his surprise role in the MCU. In the same interview with ET, he shared how its been seeing fans react to him being back in blue. In his words:
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.
Let the great debate begin! While Kelsey Grammer was the OG live-action Beast, Nicholas Hoult spent four movies playing Hank McCoy. And rather than cameos, they were leading roles, which ended with Dark Phoenix. So Grammer’s going to need more screen time if he’s going to properly compete with his fellow actor.
Luckily for those moviegoers looking to make these comparisons, The Last Stand, as well as a bunch of other X-Men movies, can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. Beast will presumably pop up again in the MCU, although Kevin Feige’s plans for the X-Men remain a mystery for the time being.
The Marvels is still in theaters now and the next MCU movie hitting theaters is Deadpool 3 on July 26th. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
