Doomsday’ bringing back Beast (exclusive)

Like many a Marvel fan, Nicholas Hoult saw that big Avengers: Doomsday livestream in March that announced the first cast additions. And he definitely saw Kelsey Grammer, the only other actor to play Beast in live-action besides himself, on that list.

“Kelsey was a great Beast,” Hoult tells Entertainment Weekly in sharing his reaction to the big reveal. “He was the Beast I saw when I was a kid, along with the other actors that they’re bringing back, Patrick and Ian and James and all them.”

Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, James Marsden’s Cyclops, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, and Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique are all on the Avengers: Doomsday roster with Grammer — all reprising their mutant roles from the lost era of X-Men movies.

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

After Grammer portrayed Hank McCoy/Beast in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, Hoult was then cast as the younger version of the mutant, starting with 2011’s X-Men: First Class. They both appeared as the character in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past sequel, with Hoult playing the role in the past timeline and Grammer playing him at the end in the future timeline.

When asked if Hoult, who’s now playing iconic DC Comics villain Lex Luthor in this summer’s Superman, had talks with Marvel about returning as Beast, he replies, “No.”

Marvel fans long theorized how the X-Men of the previous era of Fox films would be incorporated into the Disney-owned MCU following the Mouse House’s acquisition of the rival studio. Grammer was the first legacy X-character to pop up in the franchise with a post-credits scene attached to The Marvels. Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, then incorporated multiple mutants from that neck of the Marvel woods.

“I think you’ll see that continue into our next few movies and some X-Men players that you might recognize,” Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased at a fan event last November. “And then right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. And, again, one of these dreams come true that we finally have the X-Men back at Marvel Studios.”

Beyond Grammer, Stewart, McKellen, Marsden, Cumming, and Romijn, the confirmed cast of Avengers: Doomsday, the precursor to Avengers: Secret Wars, will feature vets including Robert Downey Jr. (now playing arch villain Doctor Victor von Doom), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), and Simu Liu (Shang-Chi).

Letitia Wright (Shuri/the new Black Panther), Tenoch Huerta Mejia (Namor the Submariner), and Winston Duke (M’Baku) will return, repping the Wakanda side of the MCU.

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Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/the new Captain America) and Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/the new Falcon), who both starred in this year’s Captain America: Brave New World, are also back alongside the New Avengers, the team assembled during the events of Thunderbolts* — Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, and Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost).

The Fantastic Four —  Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) — will also be there after headlining their own film, in theaters July 25. Channing Tatum will also reprise his role of Gambit from Deadpool & Wolverine, though Marvel confirmed this isn’t everyone.

Avengers: Doomsday is currently filming in the U.K. and is scheduled to open in theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.