The New York Times first broke the news that Benjamin Walker was eyeing a role in X-Men: First Class, and now Showbiz411 is adding that the young actor is in talks to play Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, AKA Beast, which was played by Kelsey Grammer in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known.