Marvel Kills Off Founding X-Men Hero, All Details

Published Sep 23, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words. Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II. Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno. Sign in to your ScreenRant account A few weeks ago, Marvel announced it was killing off a founding X-Men hero - now, thanks to a new reveal, we finally know who will perish. While fans knew that one of the five founding X-Men would soon die, the victim is just about the last candidate anyone expected. In 1963, the X-Men debuted as Scott Summers' Cyclops, Jean Grey's Marvel Girl, Bobby Drake's Iceman, Warren Worthington III's Angel and Hank McCoy's Beast. Each has gone through a dramatic journey in the decades since, finding themselves in very different places in Marvel's current canon. X-Men's ongoing DNX event follows a clash between Cyclops and the Chairman. Marvel promised the fight would be "to the death," but it turns out that it's another character who will bite the dust. Marvel Is Killing Off X-Men's Beast In a recent interview with X-Men and DNX writer Jed MacKay, AIPT shared a first look at the cover and synopsis for X-Men #42, which is set after the events of DNX. In a surprising twist, the comic confirms a major death, but it's not Cyclops or the Chairman. Instead, the cover shows Cyclops' X-Men team standing aghast over a pair of broken glasses covered in blue hair. The issue's summary reads: In the wake of the apocalyptic events of DNX, the X-Men have been struck by tragedy. They gather to remember their lost comrade… but the world does not stop for grief, and events put into motion continue to escalate. It's pretty clear that the dead character is the current Beast. While this is the founding X-Men hero as fans know him, he's actually a clone of the original Hank McCoy, which is part of what makes this death so shocking... Why Beast's Death Is So Surprising It's difficult to recap Beast's lore over the last few years without it sounding confusing, mostly because it contains so many instances of cloning. Essentially, there are two versions of Beast currently running around the Marvel Universe: The Beast - A heroic clone of the original Hank McCoy who doesn't remember the last 40 years of Marvel canon. He has the classic blue fur and is a member of Cyclops' X-Men The Chairman - The evil original Beast (or at least a clone with all his memories.) He has white fur and leads the mutant supremacist group known as 3K Marvel had teased that DNX would end with a fight to the death between Cyclops and the Chairman. It made sense Marvel would kill off the Chairman, leaving the heroic Beast clone as the one and only version of Hank McCoy, and simplifying the character's lore going forwards. Instead, it's seemingly made the complete opposite decision. Just two years after essentially rebooting Beast to his classic depiction, Marvel is killing him off again, further complicating the character despite attempts elsewhere to simplify X-Men's modern lore. So... what's going on? Is Marvel 'Fixing' Beast By Killing Him Off? As weird as X-Men's 2019-2024 Krakoan Era was for Beast, Marvel ended his villain arc simply - the evil Beast was (presumed) dead, and he'd been replaced by a heroic version fans recognized. The character was basically back where he started. The problem was, fans still weren't happy. The Krakoa Era leant HARD on the fact that Beast's evil came from within, arguing that the hero had always had the potential to become a monster. Meanwhile, the new Beast didn't remember forty years of canon. For any X-Men fans who loved Beast, Marvel effectively purged forty years of stories while definitively characterizing Hank as a genocidal traitor in waiting. While MacKay's X-Men era has continued exploring the two Beasts, the fandom hasn't really accepted the new status quo. That makes it more likely that MacKay and Vincenzo Carratù are preparing to reboot the Beast once again. If DNX kills off both the Chairman and the newer clone, it clears the way for some version of the character who is both heroic AND remembers the last 40 years of X-Men continuity. However, it's equally likely that the creative team have a far bigger swing in mind. Whatever the plan, killing off the new Beast only two years after he was introduced is a massive curveball, and one that will have X-Men fans eager to see how the DNX event plays out. X-Men #42 is coming December 9 from Marvel Comics. Movie(s) X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024) Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994) First Film X-Men (2000) Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23 Comic Release Date 213035,212968