We’re less than two weeks away from seeing Nicholas Hoult play Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman, but anyone familiar with the actor knows this isn’t his first time acting in the superhero genre. He previously starred as Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, in the First Class-era X-Men movies from 2011 to 2019, succeeding Kelsey Grammer in the role. Grammer is now set to play Beast again in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, and Hoult shared his thoughts about the return and if he was ever called about appearing in this or any of the other upcoming Marvel movies.
Nicholas Hoult’s Excited To See Kelsey Grammer And More In Avengers: Doomsday
Back in March, Marvel unveiled the Avengers: Doomsday cast with a livestream that showed off the names of the participating actors on director’s chairs. Among the lineup was Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and James Marsden as Cylcops, along with Channing Tatum reprising Gambit following his debut in Deadpool & Wolverine. Nicholas Hoult shared his reaction to the cast reveal as follows:
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.
The X-Men film series launched in 2000 and helped popularize the superhero movie genre in Hollywood alongside the Blade and Spider-Man movies. In 2006, Kelsey Grammer appeared as Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand, with the character being depicted as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. He later cameoed in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but that was the extent of his involvement with the franchise when 20th Century Fox had the film rights. Hoult continued to EW:
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.
Avengers: Doomsday marks Kelsey Grammer’s second appearance in the MCU, as he made a surprise cameo as Beast in The Marvels’ end-credits scene two years ago. However, this is a different Beast than the one he previously played, with this version being an entirely CGI creation who lives in the same universe as the Maria Rambeau variant who goes by Binary. It remains to be seen if the Beast in Doomsday will be that version or yet another doppelgänger.
Did Marvel Call Nicholas Hoult About Avengers: Doomsday?
So Beast fans can look forward to the blue-furred mutant jumping back into action at the end of next year, but has Nicholas Hoult ever had discussions with Marvel Studios about reprising the character. He gave a simple, one-word response:
No.
It doesn’t get any more cut and dry than that. In fact, none of the First Class-era X-Men actors have returned to their roles since the main film series ended in 2019 with Dark Phoenix. If the multiverse still factors into MCU storytelling after The Multiverse Saga ends, then maybe there will come a day when that changes. For now though, Hoult has enough to keep him busy on the superhero front playing Lex Luthor, because I doubt Superman will be the only time we see him in the DC Universe.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, and then Supergirl will keep the theatrical side of the DCU going with a June 26, 2026. Avengers: Doomsday bows in theaters on December 18, 2026, and then Avengers: Secret Wars will close out The Multiverse Saga on December 17, 2027.
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