2024 was one of the most transformative years in X-Men history, as the 2019-2024 Krakoan Era came to an end and Marvel relaunched the entire franchise in 'From the Ashes'. The mutant nation of Krakoa has been lost, leaving mutantkind more hated and feared than ever, with classic friendships strained or broken. Iconic characters abandoned the X-Men, believing Professor X's dream was dead, while others ascended to literal godhood, becoming cosmic heroes. However, the permanent death and replacement of a founding hero is still one of the biggest X-Men news we covered this year.
In 1963, the X-Men were introduced as Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Jean Grey, and the Blue-Eyed Leaping Beast. Unfortunately, in 2024, Beast was killed and replaced after a years-long descent into villainy. 'From the Ashes' confirmed that his replacement - the new Beast - is here to stay, with close friends like Cyclops now considering him the 'real' Beast.
On the pages of X-Force Volume 6 (cast by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara), the Beast was tasked with covert operations, protecting mutants from the shadows. Over the course of the volume's 50 issues, Beast went from hero to villain and ended up being replaced by a clone without the vast majority of the original's memories.
2024 killed the original beast, who became a villain
The New Era of X-Men Confirmed Change Is Set in Stone
The original Beast died in 2024 X Force #50of Benjamin Percy and Robert Gill, while his former team foiled his plan to become the new God of Mutants. Beast's growing corruption caused him to clone himself to create a new group separate from the X-Men, while also cloning brain-damaged copies of Wolverine as his pet killers. The Beast's downfall truly began with his attack on Greenland - a small nation whose plant-based technology was a theoretical economic threat to Krakoa.
After attacking and enslaving these 'rivals', the Beast indulged in increasingly extreme behavior in the name of saving mutantkind. This included kidnapping the children of his enemies to use them as leverage, sending death squads to assassinate political rivals, and holding and experimenting on unregistered prisoners. But while this was a major character change for the Beast, it wasn't without precedent.
Hank's arrogance has always been his fatal flaw, believing he can solve any problem if left to his own devices. In fact, in New X-Menthe Beast actually damaged reality itself by playing with the flow of time to teach Cyclops a lesson. Around this time, he was warned by the time traveler Tempus that if he didn't change his ways, he would go too far and face a reckoning. This became reality in X Forcewith Beast sacrificing himself to save his old friend Wonder Man from his own damaged technology. This left the new Beast clone as Hank's official replacement.
Who is the new beast?
X-Men Just Reversed 40 Years of Continuity
When X-Force raided Beast's old base, they found his cloning technology and decided to bring back a younger, more idealistic Hank McCoy to help them track down the original. This Hank only has memories of about New Defenders #142 - a comic book published in 1985. Although this Beast had lost almost 40 years of memories and experiences, he discovered what his 'original' self had done and decided to stop him.
The original Beast's death left the clone as the last surviving Beast, but heroes including Wolverine have sworn they would never trust him again, having seen how far he has the potential to fall. Fortunately, that list doesn't include Cyclops.
The New Beast has a vital mission with the X-Men
Cyclops still considers the new Hank his brother
In mid-2024, Beast returned in Marvel's From the Ashes relaunch, now a member of Cyclops' Alaska-based X-Men team. By Jed MacKay and Clayton Cowles X-MenBeast is the scientific advisor to Scott Summers' field team and is working to combat a mysterious new disease that is turning mutants into "ticking time bombs." His vital new role in protecting mutantkind appears to have gained some level of acceptance for the new Beast, with Cyclops calling him his "brother" - a sign that the X-Men are content to treat the cloned McCoy as if he were their old friend.
However, this is not quite true, and X-Men made it clear that the Beast is very aware of all the memories he is losing. He is one of the only mutant heroes who has never experienced life on the utopian Krakoa and is 'born' into a world where his friends are changed, dead and in some cases corrupted from when he first met them.
We're sure the original beast will return, but this time as a villain
There is no redemption for the former hero, but he could be the new 'dark beast'
While the original Beast was killed in X Force #50fans haven't seen the body, which is essentially a guarantee that at some point or another the character will return. However, it is essentially impossible for him to regain his place with the franchise. The crimes of the original Beast were unforgivable, with many parallels to real-life atrocitiesand he engaged in them without any external force influencing his actions. He was simply given unfettered power and corrupted by it.
X-Men has long had a character called 'Dark Beast' – an evil version of Hank McCoy from the alternate reality known as the Age of Apocalypse. This villain is still out there somewhere, but it's likely that the original Beast will take his place or take on a role similar to that of the 'evil' version of the X-Men's genius scientist.
Beast's corruption, death, and replacement has been a difficult journey for fans who have loved the character for decades. X Force used the character to argue that anyone can be corrupted by too much power and that even heroes can justify atrocities when they are free from checks and balances. At the same time, Beast had long been considered the moral center of the X-Men - the hero who spoke up when others like Cyclops or Wolverine went too far.
In superhero comics, everyone has an “evil” era, but in almost every case, it ends up being explained. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, and Iceman have all been villains at one time or another, but in each case, it's because they were corrupted or even possessed by some kind of outside force that could be held responsible for their behavior after the fact. X Force made sure the emergency exit wasn't present for the original Beast, and now that he's been replaced by a younger clone who doesn't have the same baggage, the original is likely to remain a villain from now on.
2024 served a very of the controversial X-Men tradition changes, but the death and replacement of the original Beast is among the most drastic. Fans of the original Beast are still mourning the loss of the character they knew and loved, as X-Men replaces a founding member with a new clone without 40 years of Marvel history.