Beast spent decades as one of the leading heroic mutants in the Marvel Universe, serving as both a foundational member of the X-Men and a dependable ally to the Avengers. Beast has flirted with more gruesome impulses over the years, but it's only been in the last decade that he's truly embraced these ideals in some fairly unexpected and grim ways. Beast's actions in recent X-Men stories have become increasingly dark and Marvel's already shown just how terrifying things can turn out when Beast formally turns against the world and decides to take it over.
Launched in the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men, A+X was an anthology series that highlighted pairings between the X-Men and the Avengers across the Marvel Universe. This extended to (then Avenger) Spider-Man and Beast in A+X #4's story "Planet of the Beasts!" by Kaare Andrews, where the pair found themselves in a dark possible future that saw New York City reduced to an overgrown ruin. Most of the human population had been reduced to a zombie-like state, left to wander the remnants of society. The two heroes are saved and brought to the last apparent city on the planet, where everyone resembles Beast. Greeted by the queen of this realm, it turns out Hank McCoy is worshiped in this timeline as the founder of their culture -- the Origin Maker.
When the rest of the world fell to in-fighting, Beast eventually gave into rage and lashed out. He developed a zombie virus that quickly killed off everyone who remained and reanimated them to make their suffering eternal. Alongside his direct descendants and others with similar mutations who had a natural immunity to the disease, they created their own utopia. Their queen had plucked Beast from across the multiverse to serve as her king, but Beast still in a committed relationship and horrified by the revelations of what his alternate self had done, resisted her advances and saved Spider-Man from gladiatorial combat. This got Beast banished from a reality where he could have been worshiped as a God, returning him to the core Marvel Universe.
The story highlights that despite his animalistic form, Hank McCoy never truly lost sight of the man he truly was. Throughout the story, Beast and Spider-Man use science and logic to get ahead of the threats posed to them and it's ultimately his humanity that spares Spider-Man and gets them both sent home. But Beast has increasingly become darker since this story was first published, especially in the Krakoa era. The fallout of many brutal events has left Beast more willing to cross ethical lines that he'd previously scoffed at. His tenure with X-Force has brought out a brutal side of him that can see the advantage in controlling others even if it means killing people -- something "the Origin Maker" is apparently fully committed to.
His revenge against humanity by unleashing a virus makes it all the worse, feeling like a vindictive act more befitting of a supervillain. What makes this all the more worrisome is that Beast has slowly approached the kind of mentality that could lead to these kinds of dark turns. Reuniting with Abigail Brand whose own ruthless nature has her working alongside both Krakoa and the anti-mutant Orchis, Beast has also been shown vying for a position on the Quiet Council. He believes they need someone ruthless to be in charge of the nation. Beast's trip to a world dominated by his visage played for laughs at the time. These days, though, Beast's new mentality gives it a far darker edge
