X-Men Officially Redeems a Founding Member After Years of Unforgivable Evil

Summary After years as a despicable villain, Beast has been chosen for the main X-Men roster.

Hank McCoy will join Cyclops, Magneto and more to protect mutants in a world that hates and fears them.

However, if Marvel ignores Hank's need for further redemption, it's at risk of mishandling the entire team.

After years of despicable evil, a founding member of the X-Men is officially being welcomed back into the fold. It's a major move from Marvel, as a character who has been an evil-doer for the last four years rejoins the cause almost immediately, taking their place on the main X-Men roster as Marvel launches a linewide revamp for its new 'From the Ashes' era. However, this isn't the average case of mind control or alt-reality doppelgängers - up until only a few weeks ago, this former hero was fully and truly bad to the bone.

As Marvel teases the release of X-Men volume 7, the publisher is confirming that Cyclops' new team will be made up of Scott Summers, Magik, Juggernaut, Magneto, Psylocke, Temper, Kid Omega, and... Beast?!

While Beast is a founding member of the team and a mainstay of the franchise, fans will be surprised to see him filling a place on the main X-Men roster, given that he spent the last few years committing heinous acts and losing the love and trust of all his former friends and allies. It's great that Marvel plans to follow up his redemptive rebirth so quickly, however it's important that X-Men doesn't ignore Hank McCoy's recent journey into darkness.

X-Men #1 (2024) Release Date: July 10, 2024 Writer: Jed MacKay Artists: Ryan Stegman, J. P. Mayer and Marte Gracia Cover Artist: Ryan Stegman, J. P. Mayer and Marte Gracia FROM THE ASHES! Krakoa is gone, Orchis has fallen... but the X-Men remain, always. Cyclops leads, because that is what he does. Beast builds, because that is what he does. And from their new home in Alaska, the X-Men raise a flag of defiance. Mutant business is their business. Join Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, Psylocke, Magik, Kid Omega, Temper, and Juggernaut as new forces in the world move into position, battling for the destiny and philosophy of the mutant species.

The last time X-Men fans saw Beast, Wolverine was on a mission to kill him.

Beast Is Officially Back on the X-Men

Beast Is Serving on Cyclops' Main X-Men Roster

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X-Men #1 is the next chapter after the franchise's 2019-2024 'Krakoan Era,' when all mutants gathered together on the island of Krakoa to forge a nation. While the conclusion of that era has yet to be revealed, fans know that the aftermath will see mutants as hated and feared as ever, and now seemingly scattered across the planet. Cyclops' new team will take point on protecting their fellow mutants, as Marvel launches a whole new line of titles including a new X-Force, a Phoenix solo title, and the Ms. Marvel led NYX.

While Rogue will lead her own Uncanny X-Men team based out of New Orleans, Cyclops will lead the man roster out of a former mutant prison in Alaska, gathering many of the mutant world's heaviest hitters for the X-Men's traditional mutant first responder remit. However, glimpses of Ryan Stegman's art confirm another X-Men founder will be along for the ride - the bouncing blue Beast. Beast is a central enough member of the team that he gets a specific shout-out in the summary - something of a shock given that his most recent adventures saw him exiled from the mutant nation and on Wolverine's 'kill at all costs' list.

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X-Men spent the last four years turning Beast into an unforgivable villain...

Beast Spent the Last Few Years As a Despicable Villain

Hank McCoy Engaged in Torture, Forced Genetic Experimentation and Murder

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During the Krakoan era, Beast was asked to take charge of the black-ops group X-Force, in X-Force volume 6 (launched by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara.) Given the power of life and death and essentially no oversight, Beast was gradually corrupted by his own arrogance and ambition. Starting off by toppling a rival nation, Beast went on to enslaving inconvenient diplomats, torturing and experimenting on prisoners, kidnapping the children of useful assets to force them to work for him, and eventually cloning brain-damaged copies of Wolverine to act as his personal hit squad.

When X-Force finally realized how far their boss had fallen, they attacked, only to be outplayed. Not only did Beast escape, but he also set up several failsafes to resurrect him in the future if he was defeated. X-Force traveled forward in time to destroy these failsafes, discovering that Beast's endgame was to set himself up as the master of Earth, and eventually as a monstrous being referred to as the God of All Mutants. Unable to out-think Beast, the team made the drastic decision to create their own copy of Hank, using his store of clone bodies and an old memory imprint from his more heroic days.

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In their final clash with Beast, X-Force stopped him from dooming the world and seemingly witnessed his death, as the original Hank McCoy died to stop his malfunctioning doomsday weapon from killing longtime friend Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. The younger Beast clone survived, moving in with Williams and now strongly distrusted by his former allies - especially Wolverine, who noted that Hank's fall from grace had shown his true colors, with it only being a matter of time until the new clone became a monster as well.

While Cyclops, Angel, Iceman and Jean Grey have all turned evil in the past, it was always because they were possessed or brainwashed. Beast's evil came from within.

Marvel's New Beast Has Lost Decades of History - But Is That Enough?

The Evil Beast Chose His Path, and the New Hank Is the Same Person

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While the new Beast clone is innocent of the original's crimes, it's shocking to see him welcomed onto the main X-Men roster. Beast was a truly despicable villain, showing that he had the capacity to torture, enslave and murder not while under someone else's control or pushed to the brink, but simply when he was given enough power that no-one could stop him. It's interesting that Cyclops would choose to work with the new Beast so soon after the original's crimes, and this may explain why Wolverine will be working with Rogue's Uncanny X-Men - it's unlikely he'd be willing to work Beast for any reason.

Beast's new clone officially has memories dating back to New Defenders #142 - a comic that came out in 1985, from Peter B. Gillis and Don Perlin. That means the new Beast has lost 40 years of Marvel history, including both his darkest and most heroic moments. However, as Wolverine pointed out, that isn't some kind of automatic ticket to redemption. Cyclops, Angel, Iceman and Jean Grey have all turned evil in the past, but in each case because they were corrupted by unbelievably powerful cosmic forces. Beast's evil came from within, and the only real difference between the new Beast and the old is that the clone version has seen how bad he could become.

Marvel's shifting timeline means that stories don't take place in real-time, so while the new Beast is missing 40 years of real-world X-Men stories, this will likely equate to only a few years of in-world memories. However, it does mean he effectively wasn't present for the majority of modern stories, including Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, any of the Krakoan Era, or his tenure with the Secret Avengers or Inhumans.

At this point, the web of X-Men heroes includes hundreds of mutants, so Cyclops selecting Beast for his crew is either a major vote for Hank's character or comes from a desperate need for his particular brand of genius (potentially linked to whatever it is he's "building.") But no matter the reason for Beast's promotion from loathed supervillain to main team material, it's important X-Men doesn't forget where he just came from.

If Beast simply slips back into his trusted and beloved role as the X-Men's genius and sometime-conscience, it will be a major issue for his character development and paint his teammates in a terrible light.

Beast's New Beginning Will Be a Relief to Fans

...But X-Men Can't Just Ignore His Years of Evil

'From the Ashes' is a seeming return to status quo for X-Men after five years of living in a plant-based utopia and playing intergalactic politics. However, the new series needs to acknowledge where it just came from. The X-Men offered their enemies an amnesty to try and build a better world, and even 'conquered death' through a complex resurrection process that is presumably lost to them in this new era. Juggernaut being part of the team suggests that X-Men will build from the foundations of where the Krakoan Era ends (the former villain was won over by the mutant nation and eventually voted onto the X-Men), and that's good news for any fan of Beast.

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While it could be tempting to simply start afresh with Cyclops and the X-Men trusting the rebooted Beast clone, that would be a mistake. Beast's fall into darkness evoked real-world atrocities, with clear parallels to Nazi officer Josef Mengele. While the new clone didn't commit those crimes, he's a long way down the path to becoming the person who did, especially because Beast became so evil in such a relatively short amount of time. With so many heroes to choose from, Cyclops needs a reason to call on Beast for this team, and Hank needs to be actively working on altering his path, otherwise it will be hard to see either of them as heroes.

Thankfully, there are a few clues that X-Men plans to engage with Hank's redemption. First, George Pérez's variant cover sees the Beast front and center, stressing his former heroic personality. Second, an early look at Stegman's art sees the team assembled without Hank, suggesting that recruiting him may be a central aspect of the series' first arc. While neither of these give much away, they do seem to suggest that X-Men won't just treat Beast like a regular member of the team.

After years of seeing Beast commit the most despicable acts possible, it's jarring to see the hero suddenly front and center for X-Men's new era. As much as this is a gift to fans who were sick of seeing their favorite character play the bad guy, it's important that X-Men spends time depicting Hank's internal struggle with what he (and the rest of the team) now know he's capable of becoming.

X-Men #1 is coming from Marvel Comics July 10, 2024.