X-Men 3: The Last Stand is the Spider-Man 3 of the X-Men franchise. Spider-Man 3 is an objectively terrible film with only a few redeeming attributes. Chief among those aforementioned attributes is the inclusion of Thomas Haden Church's turn as Flint "Sandman" Marko. Chruch's version of Sandman was an insanely comic-accurate depiction of the character, a rarity in 2000's superhero films. Barring his inexplicable kaiju transformation in the third act, Church's Sandman was so pitch-perfect that it was hard for Spider-Man fans to imagine any other actor in the role.
When it comes to X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Kelsey Grammer's portrayal of Hank "Beast" McCoy is the equivalent of Thomas Haden Church's Sandman. Despite Nicholas Hoult's admirable performance during his tenure as Hank McCoy in the X-Men prequel films, Grammer's turn as Beast was undeniably the best actor yet cast in the role. According to Comic Book Resources, Grammer would have reprised the role in a sequel titled X-Men: Fear the Beast. Although the sequel was scrapped, the script for the film has finally hit the internet.
The screenplay, written by Byron Burton from a story by Burton and X-Men: Apocalypse editor John Ottman, was posted on the r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit. It pits Hank McCoy against the monstrous Wendigo and includes Wolverine and Professor Charlies Xavier in key supporting roles. Ottman reportedly tried to get X-Men: Fear the Beast off the ground at 20th Century Fox following the release of X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, however, X-Men: Dark Phoenix writer-director Simon Kinberg vetoed the spinoff. Kinberg supposedly quashed the project because it clashed with his wider plans for the X-franchise in general and Wolverine in particular.
Kinberg's plans ultimately went largely unrealized, though, as 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise ended with the release of 2020's The New Mutants. The rights to the property are now held by Marvel Studios after its parent company acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has since confirmed that an X-Men reboot is currently in the works that will take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Actor Kelsey Grammer, who played Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past, recently pushed to reprise the role in the MCU, joking that he would boycott Disney if he wasn't invited back.
