The Marvels surprise post-credits cameo, explained

Iman Vellani, Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris in The Marvels — (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

As The Marvels swoops onto the big screen, Marvel Phase 5 just kicked up a notch. The Captain Marvel sequel sees Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) team up with WandaVision's Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Ms. Marvel's Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) to take down Kree warrior Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) after they start switching places whenever they use their powers.

There are plenty of links to the wider MCU throughout the movie, along with hints of what's to come, but the post-credits scene is where things get even wilder. This is thanks, in part, to a certain cameo…

Warning: there are major spoilers for The Marvels post-credits scene ahead, so turn back now if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know what happens!

Who is the X-Men character in The Marvels post-credits scene?

The Marvels post-credits scene has a few surprises in store, but the biggest has to be the appearance of Dr. Hank McCoy, AKA Beast. Played by Kelsey Grammer, this iteration of the blue mutant was introduced in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand as a former student of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)'s. He's a scientist and a member of the government as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. As well as his blue fur and fangs, Beast is also gifted with strength, speed, agility, and heightened reflexes. Grammar's Beast is also in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, along with a younger version of the character played by Nicholas Hoult.

Why is Beast in The Marvels?

Beast X-Men — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

We encounter Beast after Monica Rambeau wakes up in a mysterious hospital room. She's just singlehandedly fixed a hole in space-time and gotten stuck in a parallel universe in the process, so she's a little worse for wear.

Luckily, she has a doctor looking after her: Dr. Hank McCoy. He tells her that he's working on behalf of Charles Xavier, but we don't get a glimpse of him – only of the X-Men logo on the door of the room.

Despite being characters in Marvel Comics, 20th Century Fox was the studio who made the X-Men movies, so they owned the rights to the mutant characters rather than Disney and Marvel Studios. However, after Disney bought 20th Century Studios in 2019, it was only a matter of time before the X-Men joined the MCU.

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I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.