The mutant hero Beast has a permanent new design in X-Men lore – one with some major implications for his newfound role as a supervillain.
Beast Reveals New White-Furred Design as the Chairman
In X-Men #24 – from Jed MacKay, Mark Morales, Clayton Cowles, Tony Daniel and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo – Hank McCoy’s Beast reveals a new body covered in white fur. Recently, Beast has been operating under the codename of the Chairman and utilizing a cyborg body. However, he’s rethought the necessity of biology, cloning a new mutant body to inhabit from now on.
During X-Men‘s 2019-2024 Krakoan Era, Beast was corrupted by power, becoming a despicable villain. When the era came to an end, he was seemingly killed and replaced by a younger clone missing decades of memories. However, the Age of Revelation event just revealed he’s still alive. Not just that, but he’s the mysterious Chairman – the leader of the villainous 3K group.
Hank had originally intended to take his biological body out of the equation, functioning as a being of pure logic, but the Age of Revelation convinced him that there’s merit to a more subjective experience. In response, he’s created the new white-furred body, while the clone Beast will remain classic blue.
Beast’s new white design helps to set him apart from the blue-furred clone, however it may also have some dark implications.
Our Take on Beast’s New Look
Beast has a history of white fur, but only in his most extreme moments. In the dystopian future depicted in New X-Men‘s ‘Here Comes Tomorrow’ arc, Beast became a white-furred dictator after being infected by the sentient bacteria known as Sublime.
Sublime is an ancient being who preys on mutants, manipulating their thoughts and emotions to pursue his own ends of spreading across and dominating all life. While the Phoenix averted the dark future where Sublime took over Beast, it’s possible that we’re seeing another version of those events take place.
That feels even more likely now that Beast is focused on creating an ‘X-Virus’ that will turn humans into mutants on a worldwide scale. Deliberately spreading a virus worldwide is Sublime’s entire reason for being, so could Beast be lying about (or even not fully comprehend) his true motives?
Could Beast’s White Fur Indicate a Path to Redemption?
So far, it’s appeared to X-Men fans that the original Beast is simply beyond redemption, having engaged in slavery, experimentation on prisoners and attempted genocide. However, if it’s actually Sublime manipulating the Beast then the classic hero may have some path to redemption, albeit way down the road.
Influenced by Sublime or not, Beast’s new white redesign marks his rebirth as not just a villain, but the main villain the X-Men find themselves up against in modern Marvel lore.
X-Men #24 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- Movie(s)
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X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- First Film
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X-Men (2000)
- TV Show(s)
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X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)
- Character(s)
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Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
- Video Game(s)
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X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
- Comic Release Date
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213035,212968
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
