Now That He’s Back in the MCU, Who Was That Playing You-Know-Who in ‘The Marvels’?
The Marvels is a fun adventure for Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). In the film’s final moments, we get to see a lot of set-up for the future of the MCU, as well as a familiar face that fans should recognize.
In the mid-credits scene, we see Monica where she’s been trapped after she saves the day (and the world) from Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton). This other universe has Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) as Binary and another character that fans have come to love: Beast! We get to see Hank McCoy taking care of Monica when she’s in the hospital room, but it’s not just any Hank McCoy—it’s Kelsey Grammer as Beast from X-Men: The Animated Series.
Kelsey Grammer played Hank McCoy in X-Men: The Last Stand and would go on to play Beast again in X-Men: Days of Future Past. While he didn’t play Hank the most (that’d be Nicholas Hoult, who I would prefer to see as Hank McCoy in the MCU). While comic book movie fans know him as Beast, Kelsey Grammer is best known in the greater world for playing a more famous character: Frasier Crane.
Grammer started playing Frasier on Cheers before landing his own successful spinoff, Frasier, which ran for 11 seasons. (He also reprised the role in a new Paramount+ Frasier revival, but the less said about that, the better.) His appearance in the X-Men universe, while short-lived, was beloved—so much so that seeing him return to the role of Beast is important for fans. Having Grammer back as this version of the character is fun to see, even if there are other versions of Hank that I prefer.
It was nice to (briefly) see Beast!
Grammer’s take on Hank McCoy fit with that version of the franchise, but X-Men: First Class reignited the X-Men franchise for a new generation of fans and gave us fresh takes on characters like Beast. What I do love about Grammer’s take on this version of Hank in The Marvels is that he is older (which doesn’t work with Nicholas Hoult’s take on Beast quite yet) and still gives us what we want from these kinds of cameos. So while he might not have been this version of the Beast originally, it was nice to see him take on the character in The Marvels.
Whether that means we’re getting Hoult in the future or that Grammer will return when we see Monica Rambeau again, we’ll have to wait and see what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has planned. Until we know more, you can see Grammer Cheers and Frasier, both of which are streaming on Paramount+. Or just watch all of Cheers and actually fall in love with Ted Danson’s Sam Malone instead … oops, is my bias showing? Probably, but I do think that Sam Malone is a more interesting character than Frasier Crane!
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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