Stan Lee's 20 Greatest Marvel Comics Creations

Stan Lee went Beast Mode in 1963, decades before Instagram gym bros. Truly a man ahead of his time.

Beast was one of the original X-Men and remains one of the most popular in that ever expanding team to this day. He’s the embodiment of Lee’s wit; to take a furry blue monster and give him the most refined personality in Marvel’s roster.

There’s a lot of geniuses in the comic canon, but no one quite so intelligent or wry as Beast. His skills are not only medicinal or scientific, he also has a deep knowledge of literature, the arts and a staunchly political mind. Plus he’s strong enough to rip your face off.

Kelsey Grammer seemed the perfect casting, Beast is basically a hairy blue Fraiser. However, he was frustratingly underused in the original trilogy. The newer flicks see Nicholas Hoult take up the mantle in a much larger role. That’s been a slightly different Beast from the ‘oh my stars and garters!’ persona, but that may just be to do with age.

Hopefully, we’ll see more gravitas in the upcoming Dark Phoenix movie.