A Founding X-Men Hero Was Killed Off and Replaced in 2024 - And No, The Decision Can Never Be Undone

2024 was one of the most transformative years in X-Men history, as the 2019-2024 Krakoan Era came to an end and Marvel relaunched the entire franchise in 'From the Ashes.' The mutant nation of Krakoa was lost, leaving mutantkind more hated and feared than ever, with classic friendships strained or broken. Iconic characters quit the X-Men, believing Professor X's dream is dead, while others ascended to literal godhood, becoming cosmic heroes. However, the permanent death and replacement of a founding hero is still one of the biggest X-Men news items we covered this year.

Back in 1963, the X-Men were introduced as Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Jean Grey and the Bouncing, Blue-Eyed Beast. Sadly, in 2024 Beast was killed off and replaced following a years-long slide into villainy. 'From the Ashes' has confirmed that his replacement - the new Beast - is here to stay, with close friends like Cyclops now considering him the 'true' Beast.

In the pages of X-Force volume 6 (launched by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara), the Beast was put in charge of black ops, protecting mutantkind from the shadows. Over the volume's 50 issues, Beast went from hero to villain, and was eventually replaced by a clone missing the vast majority of the original's memories.

2024 Killed Off the Original Beast, Who Had Become a Villain

X-Men's New Era Has Confirmed the Change Is Set in Stone

The original Beast died in 2024's X-Force #50, from Benjamin Percy and Robert Gill, as his former team foiled his plan to become the new God of Mutants. Beast's growing corruption had seen him clone himself to create a new group separate to the X-Men, while also cloning brain-damaged copies of Wolverine as his pet killers. Beast's fall truly started with his attack on Terra Verde - a small nation whose plant-based tech was a theoretical economic threat to Krakoa.

After attacking and enslaving these 'rivals,' Beast indulged in more and more extreme behavior in the name of saving mutantkind. This included kidnapping the children of his enemies to use as leverage, sending death squads out to assassinate political rivals, and keeping and experimenting on off-the-books prisoners. But while this was a huge character change for the Beast, it wasn't unprecedented.

Hank's arrogance has always been his fatal flaw, believing he can fix any problem if left to his own devices. Indeed, in All-New X-Men, Beast actually damaged reality itself by toying with the timestream in order to teach Cyclops a lesson. Around this time, he was warned by the time-traveling Tempus that if he didn't change his ways, he would go too far and meet with a reckoning. That came true in X-Force, with Beast sacrificing himself to save his old friend Wonder Man from his own damaged technology. That left the new clone Beast as the Hank's official replacement.

Who Is the New Beast?

X-Men Just Rolled Back 40 Years of Continuity

When X-Force raided Beast's former base, they found his cloning tech and decided to bring back a younger, more idealistic Hank McCoy to help them track down the original. This Hank only has memories going up to around New Defenders #142 - a comic published in 1985. While this Beast has lost almost 40 years of memories and experiences, he did learn what his 'original' self had done, and resolved to stop him.

The original Beast's death left the clone as the last Beast standing, but heroes including Wolverine swore they'd never trust him again, having seen how far he has the potential to fall. Thankfully, that list doesn't include Cyclops.

The New Beast Has a Vital Mission with the X-Men

Cyclops Still Considers the New Hank His Brother

In mid-2024, Beast returned in Marvel's From the Ashes' relaunch, now a member of Cyclops' Alaska-based X-Men team. In Jed MacKay and Clayton Cowles' X-Men, Beast is the scientific advisor to Scott Summers' field team, and is working to combat a mysterious new disease that is turning mutants into "ticking time bombs." His vital new role in protecting mutantkind seems to have won the new Beast some level of acceptance, with Cyclops calling him his "brother" - a sign that the X-Men are content to treat the cloned McCoy as if he's their old friend.

However, that's not quite true, and X-Men has made it clear that Beast is very aware of all the memories he's missing. He's one of the only mutant heroes who never experienced life on the utopian Krakoa, and was 'born' into a world where his friends are changed, dead and in some cases corrupted from when he knew them.

We're Certain the Original Beast Will Return, But This Time as a Villain

There's No Redemption for the Former Hero, But He Could Be the New 'Dark Beast'

While the original Beast was killed in X-Force #50, fans didn't see a body, which is essentially a guarantee that at some point or another, the character will return. However, it's essentially impossible he'll ever regain his place in the franchise. The original Beast's crimes were unforgivable, with many parallels to real-life atrocities, and he engaged in them with no outside force influencing his actions. He was simply given power without restraint and was corrupted by it.

X-Men has long had a character called 'Dark Beast' - an evil version of Hank McCoy from the alternate reality known as the Age of Apocalypse. This villain is still out there somewhere, but it's likely that the original Beast will take his place or take on a similar role as the 'evil' version of X-Men's genius scientist.

Beast's corruption, death and replacement was a rough ride for fans who have loved the character for decades. X-Force used the character to argue that anyone can be corrupted by too much power, and that even heroes can justify atrocities when they're free of checks and balances. At the same time, Beast had long been cast as the moral center of the X-Men - the hero who spoke up when others like Cyclops or Wolverine went too far.

In superhero comics, everyone has an 'evil' era, but in almost all cases, it's ultimately explained away. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel and Iceman have all been villains at one time or another, but in each case, it's because they were corrupted or even possessed by some kind of outside force that could be blamed for their behavior after the fact. X-Force made sure that escape hatch isn't present for the original Beast, and now that he's been replaced by a younger clone who doesn't have the same baggage, it's likely the original will remain a villain from here on out.

2024 served up a lot of controversial X-Men lore changes, but the death and replacement of the original Beast is among the most drastic. Fans of the original Beast are still mourning the loss of the character they knew and loved, as X-Men replaces a founding member with a new clone stripped of 40 years of Marvel history.