Superman star confirms he won't be returning as his Marvel X-Men character in Avengers: Doomsday, but is "excited to see" the original Beast back on screen: "It'll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world"

It looks like Superman star Nicholas Hoult’s jump from Marvel to DC may be for good, as the actor has confirmed that he will not be reprising his X-Men role in the upcoming MCU movie Avengers: Doomsday.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hoult confirmed he was never in any talks with Marvel to reprise the role of X-Men mutant Beast. Hoult was introduced as the younger version of Beast in 2011 with X-Men: First Class. However, despite a whole host of X-Men stars returning in Avengers: Doomsday, Hoult is not one of them. Instead, original Beast star Kelsey Grammer’s name was called during that rather lengthy Doomsday casting livestream.

"Kelsey was a great Beast," Hoult said to EW, after being asked for his initial reaction to seeing Grammer's name revealed during the Doomsday casting announcement. "He was the Beast I saw when I was a kid, along with the other actors that they're bringing back, Patrick and Ian and James and all them."

Alongside Grammer, many other mutants will appear in the upcoming Avengers flick. Patrick Stewart is retuning as Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique. "Those were the characters that I got to watch in X-Men movies," Hoult added. "I'm excited to see what they do with it. It'll be fun to see how they incorporate those characters into that world."

The reason for Grammer appearing as Beast rather than Hoult is probably down to Doomsday bringing back the original X-Men, rather than the younger versions of them. Throughout the X-Men series, James McAvoy played a younger version of Professor X, and Michael Fassbender was Magneto. But, much like Hoult, neither of them are returning either.

Grammer first portrayed Hank McCoy, AKA Beast, in the 2006 movie X-Men: The Last Stand, and then later appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Hoult played a younger Beast in the past timeline and Grammer played him in the future timeline, hence the movie’s title. With Marvel looking to breathe life into the original Fox X-Men, it looks like Hoult’s days as the blue mutant may be over.

However, this year, Hoult will become one of the few actors to star in both Marvel and DC movies as he takes on the role of Superman villain Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s new movie. Superman flies into theaters on July 11, kicking off the movie portion of Gunn’s DCU: Chapter One.

Avengers: Doomsday is currently filming and is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2026. For more, check out our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order, or keep up with upcoming Marvel movies.