10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About The '90s X-Men Cartoon

3. Beast Was Barely Going To Appear In The Show

X-Men Animated Ending Thumbnail
Marvel

Because of Hank McCoy's simian-like appearance and ape-like agility, he is better-known as Beast. Since he is a founding member of the X-Men, he is one of the most well-known mutants in comics.

Despite being an integral part of the cartoon, he was only meant to cameo every once in a while. Luckily, the writer, Julia Lewald, argued that he encapsulated what the show was about more than anything.

In this story, humans hate mutants for looking different and having abilities that were potentially dangerous. Beast looks like a monster but he is the most peaceful member of the team. In Lewald's own words, "He is that damaged gentle poet that all us girls fall for." Another writer said he adored writing Beast's dialogue because his "quotes were our personal indulgence... Instead of a call of action, he would say something poetic."

Considering he is one of the world's most intelligent people, the X-Men's head scientist, and the first mutant in the show to go through a secondary mutation, it seemed ridiculous for him not to be one of the main characters. Although he was meant to only make an occasional appearance, he showed up in 71 out of 76 episodes.

The only character that appeared more often was Wolverine.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows