X-Men: Days of Future Past: Get a First Look at Nicholas Hoult as Beast!

Director Bryan Singer tweets pic of actor as furry blue mutant in the highly anticipated blockbuster-in-the-making

Nicholas Hoult has got some serious animal magnetism going on.

The 23-year-old Brit is set to reprise his role as Beast in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2011's X-Men: First Class, which drummed up $353 million worldwide.

And geekaholics eager for snippets from the film now have something to howl about: Director Bryan Singer has given fans a first look at Beast 2.0.

The director has posted a twitpic of Hoult in full makeup and prosthetics—in other words, Hoult in his full, blue, fur-ball glory.

"Many a monster wears the form of a man; it is better of the two to have the heart of a man & the form of a monster," Singer captioned the photo.

(The keen folks at The Wrap have pointed out that the tweet actually references a quote from Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.)

Fanboys will no doubt been keeping a close eye on Beast's new incarnation: Although X-Men: First Class received generally favorable reviews, critics and audiences uniformly panned the makeup and effects for the Beast character, with many likening the overall look to that of a fuzzy pet dog. (Woof!)

As for X-Men: Days of Future Past, the film promises to be a major A-list team-up: The film is set to unite next-gen X-Men stars Jennifer Lawrence (who happens to be Hoult's ex), Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy with actors from the earlier X-Men flicks, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry.

X-Men: Days of Future Past storms theaters on July 18, 2014.