- Alan Cumming is reprising his role as Nightcrawler in the upcoming movie Avengers: Doomsday
- Cumming last played Nightcrawler in 2003
- He is one of a number of characters from X2 returning for the Avengers movie
Alan Cumming recently confirmed his return as Nightcrawler in Avengers: Doomsday, and has revealed one thing that will make his job easier this time.
It is more than 20 years since Scottish actor – and also host of The Traitors – Cumming last played the role of Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United.
He is one of several veterans of the early noughties X-Men films that has been confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. Others reprising their roles include Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) and James Marsden (Cyclops).
Makeup game changer for Cumming
In an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on NBC (via Deadline), Cumming said that he has already had makeup tests ahead of filming for Avengers: Doomsday. Fortunately for Cumming, in the more than 20 years since he last donned the Nightcrawler makeup, technology has moved on – making things a lot easier for him.
“What’s great about it, it was four and a half to five hours before [to put the makeup on] and now it was 90 minutes,” he said.
Cumming explained that a lot of the time involved doing all the tattoos the character has by hand. “Because they hadn’t decided on them before we started filming and now there are all these little things that stick on – it’s a game changer.”
The actor added that filming for Avengers: Doomsday would begin soon in London. “it’s going to be nuts,” he teased. Here is all we know about Avengers: Doomsday.
Who is Nightcrawler?
Cumming has previously explained on his own website that getting ready to play the character in the past was “a real drag.” Nightcrawler has many tattoos on his body – one for every sin for the mutant with the strong Catholic faith.
Nightcrawler in the X-Men movies is a German mutant, who, despite looking like a blue demon, is actually kind and gentle. His superpower is teleportation – he can teleport himself and others instantly from one location to another.
In X2: X-Men United, having been brainwashed, Nightcrawler attacks the President of the United States.
Later in the film, back to his usual state of mind, he helps the other X-Men to free captured students and foil Stryker’s plan to eliminate all mutants on Earth.
