So after I got done re-reading Bendis' UXM, I was thinking about Dark Beast's role in the story. When I read it for the very first time, I thought that it was incredibly stupid. I mean, he was sitting inside the wall of a helicarrier coughing, hacking, and giggling trying to kill the X-Men. Then he dies from a sickness that's never explained in either origin or how he contracted it, simply saying that he did it because he hates Scott Summers. Then, after reading it the second time, it didn't seem all that stupid, but I still had my same issues: it comes out of nowhere, death by completely mysterious disease, and it feels rather anti-climactic in its ending.
But then I thought about it, and it's actually really interesting. See, Dark Beast is an alternate dimension mirror version of Beast, so it would make sense that, to a degree, they are powered by similar motivations: they desire scientific advancement for their respective mutant factions. With Beast, it's mutantkind in general, as that's what the X-Men do. With Dark Beast, it's specifically the Apocalypse agenda. But in this case, Dark Beast is specifically targeting Scott Summers. No longer about advancing the Apocalypse agenda or doing some nasty science experiments; it's all about outright murder.
Now everyone already knows this. It's nothing new. So why bother bringing it up? What makes it interesting? Because it's an exact reflection of Beast's ongoing arc at the same time: his overwhelming hatred for Scott Summers. Over the course of both All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, Beast has constantly blamed Scott for everything. It's why he broke all space and time ethics to bring the O5 to the present, after all. But it really comes around in UXM #600. As everyone is confronting Beast for his intervention, he frequently deflects by saying that his experimentations would take forever to explain to everyone else, if they could be explained at all. That it's not worth it, something that Dark Beast mirrors as well by simply hiding and making deadly weapons. Not bothering to explain what he was really doing.
Continuing on that line, as his friends are continuing to point out what he's done and why he needs to stop, ol' Hank McCoy continuously deflects in another manner: by pointing out what Scott's done. And everyone responds in kind by pointing this out. How he constantly points out Scott and everything he's doing. Blaming him for everything. Granted, Hank's anti-Scott stance has been around since the days of Second Coming where he decided that, instead of grieving over Nightcrawler's death with everyone else, that he should instead use it to grandstand against Scott. Asshole, but that's beyond the point. See, this is truly where it comes into play: Dark Beast dies severely sick, with no explanation as to how he got this way. All he can say is how much he hates Scott Summers, and it makes sense. The X-Men have been an enemy of his for years, foiling him at every turn, and Scott has always been a major leader and figurehead in some form or another. But why focus on Scott's little movement? Why not pull a Cassandra Nova and full on bomb the main mutant refuge that is Krakoa? I mean, he's practically pulling her MO already with Sentinels both big and small.
It's because he specifically targeting Scott. Much like ol' 616 Hank, he has come to hate Scott Summers that it's his big motivation. He's had Scott as the big focus in his mind like a laser. Dark Beast is a vision of what his future could be: he hates Scott so damn much that he gets physically sick from it and with his dying breaths, he viciously attacks Scott with everything he can. It's a future vision of what Hank could become if he keeps going down this road, and to be honest he shows no signs of backing out. Look what happens at the end of the run: he hates Scott so much that even when quite possible one of the best things that mutants have accomplished in a long time is engineered by Scott (and Alex), he absolutely hates him for it. That Scott could dare get away with doing such a good thing. That Hank could begin to hate Scott so much that he becomes deathly ill isn't out of the realm of possibility. Coupled with his continued scientific experimentations, it's not really out of the realm of possibility that Dark Beast is certainly in his future.
A bit lengthy, but it's something I thought of and I wanted to throw it out there.
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