Former Beast actor Nicholas Hoult shared his honest thoughts on his potential return as his X-Men character in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars. Hoult played Hank McCoy/Beast from 2011 to 2019, serving as a key player in Fox's second stab at an interconnected X-Men universe. Following his time as the Marvel hero the X-Men rights were brought under the Marvel Studios banner (thanks to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox), allowing for classic Fox X-Men actors/characters to appear in the MCU proper, something that will come to bear in two forthcoming Avengers movies: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Several legacy X-Men actors have already been confirmed for the MCU's pair of Multiverse Saga-capping team-up films, including Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian McKellen as Magneto; now, a name like Hoult's has notably remained absent. Another Beast actor, Kelsey Grammer, has been announced for the new movies, but not the X-Men: First Class star.
Having not yet been confirmed or denied for a role in Avengers: Secret Wars, former X-Men star Nicholas Hoult offered his opinion on potentially coming back as his live-action Beast (via Vanity Fair).
When asked if being cast as the villainous Lex Luthor in James Gunn's 2025 Superman film "lowered [his] chances" of getting a call to return as Best, Hoult posited, "No. I don't think I had a high chance anyway:"
Q: "You have starred in several X-Men films as Hank McCoy, better known as Beast. Do you think being cast as Lex Luthor lowered your chances of having a cameo in 'Avengers: Secret Wars?'"
A: "No. I don't think I had a high chance anyway."
After the idea of Kelsey Grammer getting to come back as the blue-haired mutant in the new MCU movies was brought up, Hoult added that he doesn't think he can compete with the Frasier star, calling him "a good Beast:"
Q: Is it because you simly cannot compete with this man?" (points to a photo of Kelsey Grammer as Beast)
A: "Yeah. Yes. He's a good Beast. Kelsey Grammer. The first."
Avengers: Secret Wars comes to theaters on December 17, 2027, ending the MCU's ongoing Multiverse Saga. The film comes as the second in a two-part Multiversal epic that will see realities collide, as Marvel Studios' prime universe of heroes (including Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Anthony Mackie's Captain America, and Letitia Wright's Black Panther) crosses over with Bryan Singer's classic X-Men universe that once operated under 20th Century Fox.
Why Is Nicholas Hoult Not Coming Back as Beast?
Fans will be the first to tell you that the Nicholas Hoult-era X-Men movies had their ups and downs, but Hoult himself was never one of the franchise's biggest problems.
A large swath of the X-Men faithful would be excited to see the Lex Luthor actor return as Beast in one of (if not both) upcoming Avengers films.
However, one fairly significant problem keeps Hoult from returning as his fan-favorite mutant: the MCU's upcoming Avengers movies seem to focus only on the first batch of X-Men characters and actors and not the second wave that Hoult belongs to.
It seems as though Marvel Studios' crossover plans only pertain to Patrick Stewart's and Ian McKellen's original trilogy of X-Men films (even though they technically crossed with the other X-Men movies eventually) and not the James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender era of the franchise.
This could change as more casting is announced, but with none of the X-Men: First Class and beyond actors revealed for Doomsday or Secret Wars, Hoult's appearance in either movie is highly unlikely.
