Marvel Reveals an Official Gender-Swapped Version of X-Men's Beast

Marvel just introduced a beastly new member of the X-Men, essentially gender-swapping one of the team's original members. The recently released X-Men #31 includes a shocking new transformation for none other than Animalia.

Released on June 10, X-Men #31 sees the Science Team heading out to the Rocky Mountains to investigate some strange anomalies while in pursuit of a Cerebro signal, but the real surprising moment of the issue came when the relatively new character of Animalia (Jennifer Starkey) unlocked a new part of her powers. For the first time, she is seen pushing her transformative abilities to their limits, taking on a tiger form that gives her plenty of powers similar to the X-Men's own Beast.

The X-Men's Animalia Unlocks Her New Gender-Swapped Beast Powers in Latest Issue

X-Men #31 is written by Jed MacKay and features art by Tony S. Daniel, and throughout the interior pages, readers will see Animalia explaining the new depth of her powers. "I got used to the lightness of the bird form," she says after taking on her new Beast-like appearance. "This is heavier...but more powerful. I feel like I could jump over the mountain."

The similarities between Animalia and Beast only get stronger with each panel. She even reveals herself to have a similar predatory instinct as Beast, saying, "The cat instincts want me to gut him," putting her in a similar situation to Beast's classic dilemma where he has to fight off his animalistic instincts with his own human conscience.

Animalia is a relatively new hero in the X-Men universe, having made her first appearance in X-Men #4 back in Sept. 2024. Originally a normal human, Jennifer Starkey was artificially mutated as an adult by the 3K organization, leaving her relatively isolated from her peers. She was eventually saved by the Nigerian mutant Temper and brought to the X-Men's base in Merle, where she stayed as Beast tried to uncover the origins of her powers.

Animalia was later recruited by Beast for his special X-Men Science Team, which is a subdivision of the main group that focuses on field research. As part of the team, Animalia continues to use her adaptive powers to give her incredible advantages, whether it be fins in the water or wings and talons when needing to get to high places. While she continues to be an asset to the team, this latest transformation is the closest she's gotten to being a direct counterpart for Beast — and it only hints even further at the romantic relationship the current arc is building towards.

Beast's Gender-Swapped Counterpart Sets Up Potential Romance Storyline

Those who have been following along with the latest X-Men issues will have seen Beast and Animalia's romance bubbling under the surface for quite some time now, though to mixed reception. As the leader of the Science Team, Beast is clearly in a position of power over Animalia, and the issue is further complicated by Animalia's own troubled backstory that has seen her coming to terms with her powers and losing her humanity.

Despite these drawbacks, X-Men #31 seems to be hinting that Beast and Animalia's relationship will only get more intense as the story develops. Animalia is continuing to get even more attached to Beast, and this latest transformation is further proof of their connection. While she's still a relatively new addition to the team, it remains to be seen if a happy ending is in the cards or if tragedy may once again strike in true X-Men fashion.

X-Men #31 is out now from Marvel Comics.