Hank McCoy is a fictional character portrayed primarily by Kelsey Grammer and Nicholas Hoult in the X-Men film series and later in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. McCoy is depicted as a mutant who is an ape-like creature with blue fur, fangs and claws, known commonly as Beast.
Working for the US Government, McCoy has held the title of Secretary of Mutant Affairs and later became the first mutant ambassador to the United Nations. He helped found the X-Men alongside Charles Xavier, Erik Lensherr and Raven Darkholme with whom he has had a relationship with. McCoy has assisted the team with defeating various supervillains including Sebastian Shaw, Apocalypse, and the Phoenix. An alternate version of McCoy working alongside Binary also encounters Monica Rambeau from Earth 616.
The character has appeared throughout various X-Men and MCU films, first appearing with a cameo appearance in X2 (2003). Grammer went on to portray him in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and The Marvels (2023). Hoult portrayed a younger version in the prequel films beginning with X-Men: First Class (2011). Both Grammer and Hoult's iterations appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and have received generally positive reviews.
Development and casting By the late 1990s, production and script writing began on a movie centred around the Marvel Comics superhero team, the X-Men, with filming beginning in 1999 for the film, X-Men (2000). Early drafts for the film featured the character Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast, however due to budget concerns, 20th Century Fox pushed for his character alongside Pyro to be removed before the film could be greenlighted. Screenwriter David Hayter noted that, We had $75 million, and we could do Beast for that. But when they went to the Statue of Liberty, I wrote a huge sequence where he's swinging around the interior of the statue and jumping from girder to girder and all this stuff. And [Fox] was like, 'We can't afford that'. In 2003, the character would go on to make a cameo appearance in the film's sequel X2 (2003), being depicted as human by Canadian actor, Steve Bacic. The character eventually made a proper screen debut in the franchise's third film, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), with BBC reporting in June 2005 that he would be portrayed by American actor Kelsey Grammer. By 2007, work began on a prequel to the X-Men film series, originally set to center around Magneto. In 2010, American actor Benjamin Walker was set to star as a younger version of Beast, but turned down the role to star in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. By October, Variety reported that English actor Nicholas Hoult had signed a three-picture contract with Fox and been cast in the role for the film titled X-Men: First Class (2011). Hoult noted he was a big fan of the comics, citing his work in Clash of the Titans (2010) as honing his skills to star in the film.
Characterization Depiction and portrayal
The character has appeared in various films as part of the X-Men film series, being portrayed by a variety of actors. American actor Kelsey Grammer appeared as the character in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) which saw him working for the United States Government as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, eventually being made the first Mutant ambassador for the United Nations. Describing his character, Grammer noted that "McCoy has integrated into the political world quite successfully. In his desire to be of service to his fellow mutants and to mankind". He added that the character values diplomacy over resorting to violence. Screen Rant writer Niall Gray opined that Grammer's characterization of the character was "substantial", feeling that his "eloquence paired perfectly with Beast, making the actor seem the best possible choice for the role".
English actor Nicholas Hoult went on to portray a younger version of the character in the prequel film X-Men: First Class (2011) which saw him joining the original X-Men team recruited by Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. On his role, Hoult called him a "very clever guy, but a little bit shy and awkward", adding that he's also "urbane, witty and a shrewd guy". He called his portrayal different compared to Grammer's, as people are intimidated by him noting that "it's great to have that with the contradiction of the character with somebody who's not that comfortable with himself".
Hoult went on to reprise the role in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) which saw Wolverine travelling back from the future to stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask. Hoult explained that at this time, McCoy "has created a serum which basically controls his mutation so his appearance is normal as long as he doesn’t get worked up". For promotion for the film, a website was created to show a timeline of the X-Men, which revealed that McCoy was not alive in Wolverine's time, and was murdered in 2015 by angry mob of Human Majority protesters. After Wolverine resets the original timeline with the help of the younger McCoy, he returns to the newly formed timeline and greets an older McCoy, portrayed by Grammer in an cameo appearance. Grammer noted in an interview with MTV that he shot his cameo secretly having "had the best time" adding that he would "love to revisit Beast" in the future.
Hoult reprised his role in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). Producer Simon Kinberg called the film a "close" to the trilogy established in First Class and Days of Future Past, and noted that it "isn't to say we won’t see them in future movies [...] but it’s a completion of an arc for them". The film also marked the end of Hoult's three-picture contract as McCoy with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that if the studio "wants [the cast] to return, they won't come cheap". By 2017, Deadline Hollywood reported that Hoult would return in a film based on The Dark Phoenix Saga. In 2018, Hoult made a cameo appearance in Deadpool 2 (2018), which saw him in a meeting with other X-Men, shutting a door on Wade Wilson when he arrives at the X-Mansion. This was followed by his appearance in the film Dark Phoenix (2019). Speaking on McCoy, Hoult noted that Hank is now a "more senior figure", noting that Kinberg gave him "this beautiful, emotional place to go with the character, to play elements of Hank and Beast that we haven’t seen before".
In 2019, Disney bought the rights to 20th Century Fox, halting any new films for the X-Men film franchise but opened door for the characters to appear in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). On appearing in the MCU, Hoult expressed his interest, noting that "if there was a way to keep growing within that character then that'd be something [he would] be interested in". That same year, American film composer John Ottman released a script online for Fear The Beast, a solo-film starring Hoult, which was originally offered by himself and his assistant Byron Burton to Fox executives, but politely declined. In 2021, Grammer also expressed interest in reprising his role, saying that "I'd love to do Beast again. Nobody's really talked to me about it [...] I'm assuming that they would go with, you know, the first is the best".
In November 2023, Grammer appeared in the mid-credits scene of the MCU film The Marvels (2023), which saw him portraying an alternate version of Beast. This version of the character works alongside Binary and encounters Monica Rambeau who has fallen into their universe. For the cameo appearance to work out, Grammer was personally called about returning by Feige, leveraging their relationship from when the latter worked on with the former in the X-Men film series. On reprising his role, Grammer noted that he has always wanted to play him again, seeing him "as an extraordinary character, a real character of gravitas and importance in our culture". Hoult also praised Grammer returning to the role, noting that "He was the Beast I saw when I was a kid, along with the other actors that they're bringing back [...] It'll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world". In April 2025, it was announced that Grammer would reprise his role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
Relationship with Mystique McCoy has had a complex relationship with X-Men member-turned villain Raven Darkholme. Throughout First Class, it is revealed that Darkholme once had a "soft spot" for McCoy, begin to "share their vulnerabilities with each other", and also share a kiss. This relationship was not established in the original X-Men trilogy as it was made prior to First Class, and also depicts Darkholme siding with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants. However, after the character's histories are erased and changed in Days of Future Past, the two retroactively rekindle their relationship. Speaking with MTV, Hoult noted that there were scenes featuring their relationship cut of the theatrical version of Days of Future Past "because they didn't work technically in terms of the geography of how the movie played out in the end", and he hoped that the next film would feature more of them. Kinberg called their relationship "interesting" and regretted "that [they] didn't have a lot of time to explore" their bond. In the Rogue Cut, an extended version of the film, the scenes are restored and shows Darkholme returning the X-Mansion and having a "sexually charged moment" with McCoy. IGN writer Jesse Schedeen felt that in this version of the film, their "relationship was a major focus" and much more successful following on from the bond created in First Class. Hoult also dated Darkholme's actress, Jennifer Lawrence.
VFX and costume design In The Last Stand, in an interview with Comic Book Resources, Grammer noted that took up to three hours to get into costume and makeup, and another forty-five minutes to take it off. Explaining the thought process into Beast's character design, Grammer added that they made him wear "an older, vintage X-Men suit, from Hank's time when he was younger and not into politics yet", describing it as a "little sexier and leatherier".
Hoult also spoke on the "exhaustive" makeup process of becoming Beast praising the prosthetics, but noted that in First Class, it took three to four hours to get on, adding that "was hot and claustrophobic to work in". In an interview with IGN, he noted that the makeup is "a mask, which is stuck onto [his] face with a headpiece, and that takes the majority of the time, getting it to look right with the teeth and contact lenses". For Days of Future Past, Hoult noted that the makeup changed for Beast, noting that, "It's become slightly smaller makeup, there's a bit more of my face underneath it [...] it's a different design and slightly cooler than the last one as well in terms of heat". Rhythm & Hues Studios also worked on Beast's transformations. For Apocalypse, Hoult was given a different type of "rubber" for his makeup, with Collider writer Adam Chitwood noting that it "allowed Hoult’s natural facial features to shine through more". Hoult explained that the make-up design for Dark Phoenix remained the same as it was in Apocalypse, and that he appreciated the physical, hands-on quality it brought to the character. He pointed out that using practical make-up instead of CGI helped maintain visual consistency across the films, especially when looking back at First Class.