Why The Marvels Surprise Cameo Was CGI

The Marvels surprise cameo by the X-Men's Beast did the unexpected, made him CGI.

By Spencer Perry

Spoilers for The Marvels will follow! Marvel Studios has carefully trained fans to stay through the credits, and The Marvels is no different. The new Captain Marvel sequel, just titled The Marvels, only has one scene mid-way through its credits, but it is a doozy. Ever since Marvel Studios regained the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four properties they've clearly been itching to do something with them. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw both Reed Richards (John Krasinski) appear, with Patrick Stewart reprising his role of Charles Xavier once again. Now Marvel Studios has done the same thing, this time with X-Men: The Last Stand's Kelsey Grammer returning as Beast, only now he's not a creation of make-up, he's fully CGI.

The Marvels end credits explained

In the final battle of The Marvels, Dar-Benn utilizes the Quantum Bands and accidentally opens up a rip in space time in the 616 universe and on the other side of the tear is a completely different universe. Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau acts fast and flies through the tear to repair it from the other side, sealing herself off and saving the 616 universe while also trapping her in an entirely different one. 

After Monica wakes up she finds herself in a sterile hospital environment with none other than her mother, Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau. Monica begins to weep and tell her mother how much she missed her, leading Maria to note how she's clearly confused and they don't know each other. As they speak who should enter the room but the furry blue doctor Hank McCoy aka Beast of the X-Men. 

Kelsey Grammer reprises his role from X-Men: The Last Stand, having previously returned to the part very briefly for X-Men: Days of Future Past. In the scene he says that "Charles" wants an update on their new friend, but they still don't know who she is. Maria then stands and reveals herself to be a hero named Binary in this alternate universe, she then asks Maria, so just who are you? Cut to black!

Why is Beast in The Marvels CGI?

There are probably three major reasons why Kelsey Grammer's Beast was a CGI character in The Marvels post-credit scene:

  1. Marvel Studios likely wanted to keep the secret of Beast's appearance in the movie a total secret, utilizing a stand-in on set for motion capture to avoid leaks.
  2. Kelsey Grammer almost certainly didn't want to sit in for the make-up for such a brief scene.
  3. It's possible that Kelsey Grammer was added very, very late in the process. 

Beast's appearance in The Marvels being a fully CGI creation may also be because the advancements in computer generated visual effects over the past 20 years have only gotten better, and fully CGI characters are incredibly common in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's largely unclear when Kelsey Grammer may appear once again as Beast, maybe next year's Deadpool 3 will see him return, or Marvel may keep him away from the big screen until Avengers: Secret Wars. 

In The Marvels, which arrived in theaters on November 10th, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol's estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as "The Marvels." The Marvels will also see the franchise returns of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan. New cast members include Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-joon, and Shamier Anderson. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta with a script from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.

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