The infamous mutant Beast, one of the original members of the X-Men, has been on a long descent into evil for years now, but an amazing new piece of fanart proves that Hank McCoy was always destined to be a villain, in every reality.When Beast first debuted in X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he was seen as a compassionate, altruistic and intelligent young man. However, over the years Hank McCoy has slowly become a selfish, fascist, truly evil scientist, a dark future for the heroic Beast that has been seen in multiple different timelines and realities. In his current role as leader of X-Force, operating as a sort of Krakoan CIA, his moral compass has severely failed him, with the once honorable hero having committed genocide, enacted horrific war crimes, abused his power, and in general proven himself to be a true geopolitical menace.Related: X-Men: Beast’s Most Disgusting Form Was Beyond His Worst NightmareThe talented artist @beefcakeboss, who has a whole portfolio of gorgeous X-Men art, recently revealed their stunning Beast fanart created for the “Evil X Challenge,” where artists illustrate amazing fanart highlighting the evil sides of beloved X-Men characters. The Beast art features the current Earth-616 Hank McCoy, the leader of Krakoa’s X-Force and all around creepy guy, but also features three different evil versions of Beast, including Dark Beast from “Age of Apocalypse” (1995), the Sublime-possessed Beast from “Here Comes Tomorrow “(2004) and the future Beast from “Battle of the Atom” (2013). While many, if not all, Marvel heroes have at one point or another run into an evil alternate reality version of themselves, Beast has experienced it so many times throughout his history that at some point he must have stopped and said to himself, “I guess I am destined to be a villain… might as well lean into it!” Beast’s true moral failings began as early as the 1990s during the Legacy Virus crisis at Marvel Comics. This was also around when Dark Beast returned to the comics after the “Age of Apocalypse,” when he willingly gave the desperately ill mutant Threnody to the vile Mister Sinister so he could experiment on her, and since then his “bad judgment” has escalated to truly despicable behavior.
Hank McCoy Is Evil In ANY Timeline
Much like his mentor and father figure Charles Xavier, Hank McCoy pretends to be an altruistic man dedicated to preserving mutantkind, helping the world, and keeping his friends safe. In reality, however, Hank is a manipulative control freak who values his own research over people’s lives. One of Beast’s most fascinating future’s occurred in Grant Morrison’s “Here Comes Tomorrow” story, the conclusion to his beloved New X-Men run, which saw Beast becoming Headmaster of the Xavier School. In his grief after the deaths of many of his friends Hank began taking the drug Kick, which was actually a gaseous version of the villainous sentient bacteria Sublime, who took over Beast and turned him into the future’s ultimate villain. This is the white-furred Hank in @beefcakeboss’ gorgeous (and oddly adorable?) fanart.
Interestingly, many evil Beast variants seem to be manipulated into becoming villains. For example, the future Beast from “Battle of the Atom” was telepathically influenced by a descendant of Xavier, which could speak more to his weakness and heroic failings. Regardless of Beast’s evil variants, the Hank McCoy who matters the most is Earth-616’s version, who decimated the population of Terra Verde, uses his Danger Room to simulate sex, and is disgustingly intimate with Abigail Brand, a horribly manipulative woman who has profoundly betrayed the X-Men.
The incredible fanart by @beefcakeboss does a haunting job of positioning the modern Hank McCoy as a central villain in current X-Men stories, while providing evidence for his horrifying villainous destiny in the form of several other evil Beast variants.
