Warning: This rumor isn’t confirmed, but if you wish to avoid any and all potential spoilers for The Marvels, read at your own risk.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is to cameos as Tony Stark is to sarcasm. You simply can’t have one without the other.
Even though one might argue (and rightfully so) that the MCU’s Multiverse Saga is plagued by dead-end cameos in post-credit scenes, that reportedly hasn’t stopped the studio from resurrecting an OG Marvel alum for the post-credit scene of Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris’ intergalactic team up in The Marvels.
Rumors of the multiverse-shattering cameo emerged just days after it was reported The Marvels wouldn’t lift its review embargo until the day before its theatrical release. Initially, the delay was cited as Marvel’s buffer against poor theatrical turnout, but that theory changed course following the cameo rumors, thus contributing to its likelihood.
Which Fox X-Men character is rumored to appear in The Marvels post-credit scene?
Like any good cameo, Marvel is holding its cards close to its chest, which means we won’t know whether Kelsey Grammer’s Hank McCoy (or Nicholas Hoult’s for that matter) actually appears in The Marvels until the first wave of moviegoers gathers in theaters. That said, the general consensus among online scoopers is that Grammer will grace the MCU in a multiverse-shattering appearance once the credits roll.
The last time Grammer appeared in a Marvel movie was briefly in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and most notably in the widely-dispised X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) before that. Should Grammer’s The Marvels cameo pan out, he would join the likes of Hugh Jackman as one of the first wave of 20th Century Fox mutants to transition over to the MCU.
Deadpool 3, scheduled to premiere sometime in 2024 (its May 3 release date is still up in the air due to delays caused by the SAG-AFTRA strike), is also expected to display an eye-popping amount of cameos from former Fox X-Men characters. The movie will be Ryan Reynold’s first foray into the MCU as well as the first R-rated MCU movie. Grammer’s potential cameo as Beast in The Marvels could be the studio’s way of signaling not just the formal introduction of X-Men, but also the onslaught of multiversal cameos expected to take place between now and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.
Not every reaction to Grammer’s potential cameo has been positive. Although it may read on paper as a nice step forward to the future of the X-Men in the MCU, the throughline between it and the wider Multiverse Saga’s storyline is not adding up for some Marvel fans.
Indeed, Marvel’s journey toward tying the Multiverse Saga together is an uphill one, as it reads more disjointed than not at present, and has since the beginning of Phase 4. There’s a 50/50 chance Grammer’s potential cameo could aid or hurt Marvel in that respect, just like there’s a 50/50 chance the rumor of the cameo itself is entirely baseless. We’ll have to wait and see.
The Marvels premieres in theaters on Nov. 10.