Nicholas Hoult Welcomes Kelsey Grammer’s Return as Beast in Avengers: Doomsday

NEW YORK, NY — Nicholas Hoult expressed his excitement about Kelsey Grammer reprising his role as Beast in the upcoming film, Avengers: Doomsday. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Hoult reflected on his childhood, saying, “Kelsey was a great Beast. He was the Beast I saw when I was a kid.”

Grammer first portrayed Hank McCoy, also known as Beast, in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and reprised the role in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Hoult took over the role as a younger version of the mutant starting with 2011’s X-Men: First Class.

Other iconic characters from the X-Men franchise, including Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), and James Marsden (Cyclops), will also return for Doomsday. Hoult, however, confirmed that he has not been approached by Marvel to return as Beast, simply replying, “No,” when asked if he had discussions with the studio.

“Those were the characters that I got to watch in X-Men movies,” Hoult said. “I’m excited to see what they do with it. It’ll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world.”

Marvel fans have speculated about how the previous X-Men actors would be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Grammer made his first return as Beast in a post-credit scene during The Marvels.

Marvel Studios President teased that the upcoming films will explore more ties to the X-Men legacy. “I think you’ll see that continue into our next few movies and some X-Men players that you might recognize,” he stated at a fan event last November.

In addition to the X-Men actors, Doomsday will feature actors like Channing Tatum, reprising his role as Gambit. The film is currently filming in the U.K. and is set to be released on December 18, 2026.