Warning: contains spoilers for X-Force #15!
Original X-Men member Hank McCoy, aka Beast, appears to be heading down a dark road in the pages of X-Force, but a recent interview with his current writer reminds fans he has been on this path for many years. He is far removed from his early days as an acrobatic prankster who liked to quote Shakespeare and study different fields of science. In the ongoing X-Force series written by Benjamin Percy with art by Joshua Cassara, Hank McCoy acts as the head and strategist of the mutant CIA. He and his team are tasked with protecting the island nation of Krakoa from any threats it faces from external enemies.
After an assault on Krakoa that left Professor Xavier dead, X-Force was given complete authority to use whatever methods necessary to keep Krakoa safe. Beast has taken this mission to heart, adopting an “ends justify the means” attitude in how he carries out X-Force missions. He has lobotomized the son of an enemy, contracted the services of mercenaries, and arrested and interrogated both villain Omega Red and longtime X-Man Colossus. He has shown little if any remorse for these actions, even when faced with opposition by close friends like Logan and Jean Grey.
In an interview with AIPT, Percy discusses the path that Beast is on and how it has been set up in previous stories. “Beast is making bad decisions for the security of Krakoa. He’s cold and schemingly utilitarian in his approach,” Percy says. “If you look at his past, he’s already made a lot of morally sketchy choices. Look at his history with Dark Beast, the Inhumans, MGH, the Illuminati, the Legacy Virus…I’m building upon a very firm foundation here.” Percy also said that he knew how Beast’s story would end before he even wrote his first issue of X-Force.
Even though he was one of the original X-Men and has been shown in the past as a happy-go-lucky genius with a strong moral center, Beast’s actions in recent years have shown a progression toward more unethical behavior. After the Avengers vs. X-Men conflict, he went back in time and brought the teenage versions of the original X-Men to the present. He hoped that the presence of young Scott Summers would dissuade the present Cyclops from committing horrible crimes, and he acted without regard for the space-time continuum. He was eventually put on trial by the rest of the X-Men for his actions, with time-traveling X-Man Tempus delivering a dire warning about his potential future.
Beast has displayed this morally gray attitude many times before. He once modified the Legacy Virus to kill Skrulls, his research was used to create the Mutant Growth Hormone drug, and in the "Time Runs Out" Avengers storyline - where the Earth faced possible destruction during incursions with other universes - Beast took part in the destruction of other Earths in order to protect his home planet. He sided with the Inhumans after the Death of X story, and was later imprisoned by his X-Men teammates when he suggested that mutants leave the Earth entirely. With Percy’s revelation that he knows where Beast’s story is headed in his role as leader of X-Force, readers are sure to see more ethically questionable behavior from Hank McCoy, and likely the explosive consequences of his long slide towards darkness.
Source: AIPT