Marvel Revives the Most Despised X-Men Character

One of the worst versions of one of the greatest X-Men of all time is finally back, and he is already a serious problem.

When tensions within the mutant terrorist organization known as 3K come to a head in the pages of X-Men #24 (by Jed MacKay, Tony S. Daniel, Mark Morales, Fernando Sifuentes, and VC's Clayton Cowles), the infighting is quickly put to rest by the arrival of their Chairman, who just so happens to be none other than Doctor Hank McCoy, aka Beast. Unfortunately for everyone, this is the original Hank, and he already knows all the secrets the Age of Revelation will have to offer.

Introduced all the way back in 1963's X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the apish Hank McCoy has been a part of Marvel's premiere mutant super team from the very beginning. For decades, Beast was not only one of the most capable X-Men in terms of his battlefield prowess, but one of the greatest minds that mutantkind had to offer.

At various points in Hank's comic book career, he has undergone drastic transformations, shifting from a largely ordinary figure to the blue-furred Beast fans know best, all the way through two separate ivory-toned looks. Hank has also undergone some equally drastic shifts in character, the most infamous of which came during the Krakoan Era.

During the heyday of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Beast was instrumental in ensuring its success by helping craft multiple miracle cures for the rest of the world, as well as its safety as the head of X-Force, then the Krakoan intelligence service. At some point along the way, the combined pressures break Hank, leading him to toil away in secret on projects such as an army of Wolverine clones, not to mention a research team of clones of himself.

What Happens To Beast In The X-Men Comics?

One of these clones would effectively take Beast's former place in the modern-day X-Men, albeit after some serious modifications. Using Cerebro, X-Force uploaded the backup of the original Hank from years before the events that led to his downfall. Initially, this Beast was disoriented and outright terrified, yet he soon came into his own as another great mutant hero.

Although it appeared that the original Beast lost his life during a confrontation between his duplicate and Wonder Man, he somehow managed to transfer his consciousness to a synthetic body. In fact, it was the original, villainous Beast whose consciousness was transmitted into the future of the Age of Revelation, and who has returned as the Chairman of 3K.

Now, Beast not only has one of the most powerful bands of mutant villains at his disposal, but also knowledge of a future that is still decades away. As such, Beast can easily navigate the present to emerge victorious later on, especially now that he knows the secrets behind Revelation's X-Virus and how to recreate it for himself.

X-Men #24 from Marvel Comics is on sale now.