What if Frasier Crane had blue fur?

Grammer Is Beast In X-Men 3
Kelsey Grammer, best to the world as Sideshow Bob on "The Simpsons" -- well, ok, he also played Dr. Frasier Crane for about 20 years on "Cheers" and "Frasier" -- will be playing Dr. Hank McCoy aka the Beast in "X-Men 3."

For those unfamiliar -- and if you are, then you probably aren't bothering to read this -- Beast was one of the founding X-Men in the comics. He possess incredible strength and agility as well as an amazing intellect and a dizzying vocabulary. He also happens to be covered in blue fur.

Marvel Movie Mastermind Avi Arad says Beast will play a major role in the next mutant movie.

Grammer's voice is perfect for the part. There is no word if he'll actually be going through hours of makeup to transform into Beast or if he'll just be voicing a CGI character.

The blue fur was actually the result of a science experiment gone bad in a story published several years after the character first appeared in the 1960s. Originally he appeared as an ordinary guy with oversized hands and feet. I think the super-strength was something added later as well. In the beginning his sole power was his amazing agility.

In recent years, however, there has been a little bit of revisionist history going on with implications that the fur and the strength were part of the package all along. I suspect that will be the case in the movie.

In other casting news, we learned a few weeks ago that an actor I've never heard of named Vinnie Jones will play the Juggernaut. Also, Arad says they are very close to casting Angel and re-casting Kitty Pryde. Kitty appeared in both of the previous movies, played by a different actress each time. The character apparently is going to have a larger role this time.

The rest of the cast from "X2" will be returning.

Thanks, Marc.