Dark Phoenix's Nicholas Hoult Would Totally Play Beast In The MCU

Beast in Dark Phoenix

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is on everyone's mind currently, as Avengers: Endgame has been in theaters for nearly two weeks. The Russo Brothers delivered a blockbuster that was the true cumulation of 22 movies, and included just about every character you could imagine. There is still one movie left in Phase Three, but the public has been theorizing about what might come in the next slate of movies.

One of the biggest questions looming above Phase Four is the Fox/Disney merger, and the new characters that might join the MCU. Chief among them are the Fantastic Four and X-Men, although the latter group offers an interesting set of challenges. But will Marvel Studios invite any of the current X-Men actor to return, or just recast? Nicholas Hoult has been playing Beast since First Class, and recently expressed his interest in joining the MCU, saying:

Yeah, I think that would be cool if they do blend them together. I’m not sure what their plans are, but I loved playing the role and I got to take him to a new spot in this film and try different things. So if there was a way to keep growing within that character then that’d be something I’d be interested in.

Dark Phoenix marks Nicholas Hoult's fourth movie as Beast, and it looks like he's not quite done with the big blue guy. And he'd love to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe if Disney Studio decides to somehow combine the franchises.

Nicholas Hoult's comments come from his recent chat with MTV International. While publicizing his role as the title character on Tolkien, the conversation eventually turned to Hoult's superheroic tenure as Beast in the X-Men franchise. Dark Phoenix has been teased to be the final installment in the property as we know it, but there are lots of fans hoping the mutants will be brought into the MCU.

Related: Nicholas Hoult Doesn't Make A Big Deal About Working With Ex Jennifer Lawrence On X-Men Set

But Marvel Studios' plans for the future are almost a complete mystery, save from Spider-Man: Far From Home and Black Widow. Studio head Kevin Feige did recently claim that the X-Men wouldn't be brought into the MCU for years, likely allowing audiences to move on from the long running franchise. But the MCU is a place full of twists, so there's always the possibility that those comments were a red herring.

Comic book fans have been waiting for the X-Men to meet The Avengers since the MCU introduced serialized storytelling to the film world. While this seemed like an impossibility for the last decade, Disney's acquisition of Fox seemed to open the doors. But exactly how Marvel will be introducing the beloved mutants to the greater shared universe is unclear.

If the current class of X-Men are offered, Nicholas Hoult is one actor who is ready to crossover to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let's just hope that Kevin Feige and his team are considering this as an option.

Nicholas Hoult's Tokien arrives in theaters on May 10th, and Dark Phoenix will debut on June 7th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.