X-Men: Fear The Beast - 8 Biggest Takeaways From The Abandoned Movie Script
1. It's A Violent, Small-Scale X-Men Movie, Like Logan
One of the most alarming things about Fear The Beast is just how violent it is. When Raven is shot, blood "sprays" everywhere, a flaming arrow enters a child's leg and it "sizzles" her skin, Wendigo brutally slaughters countless hunters, and Cartier is shredded alive. This ain't no Saturday morning cartoon.
Plus, it's really tiny in terms of stakes - at least when compared to the world-ending threats found in X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, or the possibility of World War III in X-Men: First Class. The biggest action sequence is a fight between Wendigo, Beast and Wolverine inside a sawmill, and the only thing at stake there is a small handful of locals.
The film's violence and scale obviously raises the question of whether or not it could've been an intimate, R-rated solo movie in the vein of Logan. Burton hasn't revealed his script's intended age rating, but considering how bloody things get, a more mature tone would definitely work in this story's favour.
It's not wise to just do an R-rating for the sake of it, but that extra leeway does allow the filmmakers to explore their characters from a different, more refreshing angle. Fear The Beast makes it clear that Hank has a darker side, and since Wolverine was able to transition from PG-13 movies to R-rated movies, why couldn't Beast do the same?
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What do you think about X-Men: Fear The Beast? Disappointed it never got made? Let us know in the comments section!