The world of creative storytelling is jam-packed full of roads untraveled. For every one idea that makes it to the big screen, there are countless others that never get past the development stage and a whole host of others that end up as screenplays that will never see the light of day. When you have big franchises, studios like to explore the many different directions they could take the story…without the hundreds of millions of dollars of investments.

Sometimes these scripts are passion projects of one or two people, and in the case of the Beast spin-off, it was the project of X-Men composer and editor John Ottman. According to THR, his then-assistant Byron Burton, while they were finishing up X-Men: Apocalypse, had an idea for a Beast spin-off movie. When Burton said he could write a script in two weeks, Ottman responded:

“I said, ‘Knock yourself out, but just know there’s a 95 percent chance no one is ever going to make this.'”

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He read the script, and while one would expect the story to end there…it doesn’t. Ottman liked the screenplay and thought it could work. He made tweaks to the draft, seeing it as a $90 million film that could feature big names like Xavier and Wolverine. The story takes place in the ’80s in an Inuit village being tormented by a creature.

“We wanted to have the tenor of John Carpenter’s The Thing where you are in this inhospitable environment,” Ottman told the outlet.

“The script then cuts to Hank McCoy, who is living in the X-Mansion and is keeping his mutation in check with a special serum introduced in 2014’s Days of Future Past. During a Danger Room sequence, it becomes apparent Hank is having trouble controlling his beastly nature as he nearly loses control. Early in the first act, we also learn Hank has been helping a scientist who has a similar mutation.

Hank has provided the man with a sample of his serum, but things have taken a vicious turn. Hank goes in search of the man, who he discovers has been terrorizing the Inuit village. The journey all leads to a showdown in which Hank teams up with Wolverine, whom Prof. X has located using Cerebro. The very end of the film ends with a tag revealing the villain Mr. Sinister has been watching the proceedings.”

So this would set up Mr. Sinister as the head of a multi-film arc. The next film (which they outlined) would feature Omega Red, with Sinister testing the X-Men.

However, if they wanted to actually make this movie, they’d need Simon Kinberg’s approval, since he was the architect of things to come. Kinberg politely refused to read it because he didn’t want to get influenced by it, as he then had his own ideas of reintroducing Wolverine.

If you want to read the script, Fear the Beast, check it out HERE!

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SOURCE: THR