Warning! Spoilers for X-Men Red #8 ahead!A founding member of the original Uncanny X-Men team, brilliant mutant and acrobat Hank McCoy aka Beast has proven himself to be a valued member of the titular superhero team for decades. While Beast has made some questionable decisions in the past, these choices have remained for the good of the team… until now. Jonathan Hickman’s era of X-Men has opened the door for brand-new changes to not only the X-Men’s status within the Marvel Universe but a shift in character, including Beast’s gradual turn to the dark side.
Following the events of Marvel’s summer blockbuster crossover event A.X.E.: Judgment Day, the spotlight has now turned to S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient Worlds Observation Research Division) leader and alien/mutant hybrid Abigail Brand. Initially a recurring obstacle in the lives of Marvel’s mutants, Brand has been a longtime ally of the X-Men and their spaced-based adventures, which brought her into contact with Hank McCoy. Bonding over their physical “deformities,” Beast and Brand quickly hit it off, becoming a couple capable of standing the test of time. While Beast’s turn as a villain seemed to coincide with his leadership role running, it is Beast’s relationship with Brand that was the final push needed to propel him toward a darker path.
Serving as the head of Krakoa’s international X-Force covert ops team (consisting of Wolverine, Sage, Jean Grey, Domino, Kid Omega, and Black Tom Cassidy), Beast has reinvented himself as a valued member Krakoa’s mutant nation. While X-Force has proved to be an effective operation under Beast’s leadership, Hank’s emotional and mental state have begun to deteriorate as a result. Luckily, Beast has his longtime romantic foil Abigail Brand, who has been seen embracing Hank as recently as X-Force #27 by Benjamin Percy and Robert Gill. Now it’s been revealed that Brand is not only organizing a massive cosmic agenda but taking advantage of her and Beast’s formerly touching relationship. X-Men Red #8 from Al Ewing, Madibek Musibekov, and Federico Blee finally showcases Abigail Brand as the master villain orchestrating various cosmic events within the X-Men canon, both past and present. At the forefront of this orchestration is Brand’s own manipulative relationship with Beast, which serves as a means to an end in the grand scheme of her master plan.
Beast Is Not In His Right State Of MInd (Or Is He?)
Although Abigail playing the role of the manipulator is crucial, it can be argued that Beast’s transition to villainy has been taking shape since his transition to X-Force. Leading the team certainly does not seem to be doing the unraveling mutant any favors, in the wake of McCoy’s newfound emotional restrictions. Beast would much rather the members of X-Force compartmentalize all their feelings and emotions during missions, than become a team dedicated to their comradery or friendship like the Avengers, Fantastic Four, or even the early days of the X-Men. Combine that sense of isolation alongside Abigail’s own manipulations and that is an impactful recipe for a true villain.
Brand has always been a character of her own duplicitous nature who happens to coexist within the world of Marvel Comics and comic titles involving the X-Men. The more Abigail begins to corrupt Hank McCoy’s mind, the less of the old Beast who fought and recited from Shakespeare alongside his fellow pals in the X-Men and Avengers remains intact.
