Fox’s time in charge of the X-Men was characterized by inconsistency, as you would no doubt have expected from a series that included sequels, reboots, sequels to reboots and spinoffs, but after sitting pretty as one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises for almost two decades, the mutants went out on a decidedly low note, with Dark Phoenix earning scathing reviews and becoming the biggest box office bomb of last year, while The New Mutants has recently been given its fifth different release date. Although, with the pic’s history, there’s every chance it could slip back into cinematic purgatory once more.
With the characters now in the hands of Marvel Studios, most fans likely won’t have an issue with seeing Charles Xavier’s team being reinvented once again seeing as their crossover potential has increased tenfold, but we won’t be seeing the MCU’s X-Men for a long time yet. Kevin Feige is in no rush to make the movie given that the Dark Phoenix debacle is still fresh in the minds of audiences and critics alike, and the introduction of mutants into the well-established mythology of the shared universe is going to have to be handled very carefully.
While Marvel reportedly seem keen to try and convince Hugh Jackman to be involved in some capacity, the rest of the team will be rebooted from the ground up in an effort to distance the latest iteration of the X-Men from the Fox movies. However, that hasn’t stopped the likes of James Marsden and Sophie Turner from admitting that they’d love to return if given the opportunity, and now, Nicholas Hoult revealed in a recent interview that he’d be more than open to the idea of reprising his role of Hank McCoy.
“That was a fun evolution, and that’s something that I’m always looking for, is how a character changes. And I think there’s a lot more to explore with that character. So I’d be interested to know where they see it going next.”
Beast is a character that’s arguably never been used to his full potential in any X-Men movie, and despite Hoult being a major part of the cast from First Class all the way through to Dark Phoenix, it feels as though he was never really given the chance to develop him any more than the furry blue guy that delivers exposition and then comes in handy during the action scenes. He might be open to a return, but Marvel Studios are more than likely heading in an entirely different direction with an all-new cast for their reboot.