Kelsey Grammer will be returning as Beast in Avengers: Doomsday, and the way that he was announced perfectly represents his MCU journey. With filming for the culmination of the Multiverse Saga starting soon, Marvel went with a somewhat unconventional method when announcing the first set of Doomsday cast members. The studio livestreamed the back of chairs for over 5 hours, each chair in line revealing the name of an actor in the film. From expected names to bigger surprises, Doomsday already looks to be the MCU’s biggest production yet.
The most notable inclusion in the Doomsday cast announcement was the return of original X-Men actors. Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, and Alan Cumming will be reprising their X2 roles, and franchise legends Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are set to return as well. Out of all the confirmed X-Men, Kelsey Grammer’s chair was the first to appear in the livestream. However, Doomsday won’t be his first MCU appearance as Beast as he made a cameo in 2023’s The Marvels. Beast left that film on a cliffhanger, and fans will finally get to see it resolved with his return.
Beast Was The First Member Of The X-Men To Officially Join The Avengers
Beast is not the first mutant to be introduced into the MCU, nor is he even the first X-Man. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are both considered X-Men in Marvel Comics and made their on-screen debut in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Patrick Stewart also made a cameo as Professor X in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, their ties to the X-Men were never explicitly stated in-universe. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were simply seen as members of the Avengers, and the Professor X variant as part of the Illuminati.
Previous X-Men characters may have been in the Avengers before, but with Grammer’s Avengers: Doomsday appearance confirmed, he’ll be the first member of the X-Men to officially join the MCU’s Avengers.
Grammer’s Beast cameo in 2023’s The Marvels was the first official inclusion of the X-Men into the MCU. After Binary found Monica Rambeau in space, she brought her back to the X-Mansion where Beast helped her recover. The blatant X imagery in that scene was an obvious nod to the X-Men, especially with Marvel bringing Grammer specifically. Previous X-Men characters may have been in the Avengers before, but with Grammer’s Avengers: Doomsday appearance confirmed, he’ll be the first member of the X-Men to officially join the MCU’s Avengers.
What Kelsey Grammer’s Beast Being In Avengers: Doomsday Means
Grammer’s confirmed Doomsday appearance confirms much more about a previous storyline than fans could’ve ever expected at this point. The Marvels post-credits scene inferred that Monica drifted into an alternate universe, and it was speculated at the time that it was the Fox X-Men universe because of Grammer’s appearance. It was the theory that made the most sense and would give the MCU an easy way to introduce the X-Men into the franchise. Even if Monica isn’t exactly in the Fox universe, she is undoubtedly in one where the original X-Men cast resides.
Now that other original X-Men actors are confirmed to appear alongside Grammer, this theory makes even more sense. There are still members of the Doomsday cast left to be announced, and Teyonah Parris is likely to be among them. When she is confirmed, it’ll all but solidify the theory that she’s with the original X-Men and will be the one who leads them into the main MCU timeline. Marvel knew what they were doing when they included Grammer’s cameo in The Marvels, and his tease paid off as he got to be the first X-Man to join the Avengers.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027