Warning! This article contains spoilers for Wolverine #13
The most recent issue of Wolverine features a turning point for Beast, whose time at the head of the mutant intelligence agency X-Force has left longtime fans and readers wondering if this classic X-Man can ever be redeemed. Beast’s morally dubious actions—which involve the clandestine genetic reprogramming of ambassadors of a rival nation known as Terra Verde—have finally been exposed to his teammates and other high-ranking mutants on Krakoa. While the crisis involving the Terra Verdean ambassadors at the Hellfire Gala has been momentarily resolved, a final reckoning for Beast may be on the horizon.
Despite Beast’s defense of his actions, Wolverine #13 from writer Benjamin Percy and penciller Scot Eaton makes it clear that this original X-Man is standing alone. Beast’s unethical decisions, made in secret, with no accountability have unquestionably transformed this original X-Man into a full-blown supervillain. What makes Beast’s position unique among the X-Men, however, is that for years, he has been followed by a dark shadow. A shadow that could easily revert Hank McCoy back to his old heroic self, albeit in an unsatisfying way.
Dark Beast was first introduced in the seminal crossover event Age of Apocalypse. The story established an alternate reality in which Professor Xavier was killed before he could form the X-Men, and the villainous Apocalypse ruled over the majority of the planet. In this reality, a number of heroes from the prime 616 Marvel Universe were reimagined as dark and twisted servants of Apocalypse. Unlike his 616 counterpart, the Hank McCoy of the Age of Apocalypse possessed no moral code when it came to his sinister genetic experiments.
After the Age of Apocalypse reality initially collapsed, Dark Beast became one of the few characters to cross over from one timeline to another. Meaning that since the mid-’90s, two versions of Hank McCoy have been operating in the primary Marvel Universe. The two Beasts have frequently crossed paths, mainly as enemies, yet sometimes as allies. After over two decades of antagonizing the X-Men, Dark Beast was decapitated by Magik in 2019’s Uncanny X-Men #20. He has yet to make an official appearance since. As an alternate reality version of a living mutant, Dark Beast is not eligible for Krakoan resurrection.
In the publication year following the Age of Apocalypse, Dark Beast captured 616 Beast and spent months posing as his doppelgänger in order to infiltrate the X-Men, before being exposed by Onslaught. Judging by 616 Beast’s recent actions in X-Force, fans have speculated that another switch may have taken place and that the Hank McCoy who has appeared since Krakoa’s inception is secretly his evil counterpart. Recent issues of Cable have established that the X-Men’s psychic defenses struggle to distinguish alternate versions of mutants from one another.
If the Hank McCoy currently appearing in X-Force is indeed Dark Beast, longtime fans of the original Beast may be excited to see a potential return to the lovable, heroic incarnation of the character. However, Beast has been on the road to darkness for many years at this point, believing that his genius-level intellect can justify any action he takes, regardless of the ethical implications. Revealing that Beast has been secretly replaced by his evil counterpart would be a disservice to Hank’s character arc. If nothing else, Dark Beast’s existence could prove nothing more than the fact that one of the original X-Men always carried within him the capacity to transform into one of mutantkind's greatest villains.