Nicholas Hoult Sets the Record Straight on His MCU Return as X-Men Fan Favorite Character
Over the past few weeks, Marvel fans have been speculating and turned into super sleuths to find any hint, rumor, and out-of-context social media posts they could find to convince…
Over the past few weeks, Marvel fans have been speculating and turned into super sleuths to find any hint, rumor, and out-of-context social media posts they could find to convince themselves that Nicholas Hoult is set to reprise his role as Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, in the MCU’s inevitable (but still not officially here yet) X-Men debut.
But the actor who is currently stealing hearts during press tours for DCEU’s Superman as Lex Luthor finally weighed in. If his being involved in Marvel’s rival is not indication enough, prepare to get your heart broken if you’re still expecting to see Hoult all blue, and furry.
Nicholas Hoult: No Marvel Talk
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hoult confirmed he saw the livestream for the cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday and that Kelsey Grammer reprised the role. Grammer and Hoult are the only actors to play the role in live-action movies. Grammer originally played Beast, while Hoult played the younger version of the mutant.
Hoult said of Grammer returning as the Beast, “Kelsey was a great Beast. He was the Beast I saw when I was a kid, along with the other actors that they're bringing back, Patrick and Ian and James and all them.”
He added, “Those were the characters that I got to watch in X-Men movies. I'm excited to see what they do with it. It'll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world.”
When asked if he would also return to the MCU as the younger version of Beast, he replied, “No.”
Why We Think Hoult is Not Returning as Beast
Sure, Hoult might just be misleading us by saying no and keeping his involvement a secret. But if Marvel Studios decided to bring him back, that would also mean bringing back all the X-Men from his version, including Jennifer Lawrence as young Mystique, Lucas Till as Havok, Zoë Kravitz as Angel Salvadore, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, and James McAvoy as Professor X, all of whom are busy with other projects.
Besides, Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars will conclude MCU’s Phase Six and the Multiverse Saga, where it’s logical to expect the younger versions of the mutants to share the storyline with their older counterparts. Since the OG X-Men are already appearing in Doomsday, we’ll likely have to wait until mid-2026, when filming for Secret Wars begins, for cast announcements, and to find out whether Hoult and the rest of the younger X-Men will reprise their roles.
