Alan Cumming is grateful for his latest turn as Nightcrawler in the new Avengers: Doomsday — especially after describing his initial experience in X2 as “terrible.”
It’s been 23 years since Cumming, 60, made his MCU debut as the teleporting mutant in 2003’s X-Men sequel. He will reprise his role in the forthcoming Avengers film alongside Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, and Robert Downey Jr.
“I just came back. It was amazing. It was actually really... in a sort of ooey, gooey way, it was really healing and really nice to go back to something that it was a terrible experience when I did it the first time,” he recently admitted to People.
“A great film, great film. I love the film,” Cumming teased of Avengers: Doomsday, which is expected to release December 18, 2026.
Reflecting on his “miserable” first experience filming X2, he recalled it was “awful for a variety of reasons that I have talked about at length.”
The Scottish actor has been outspoken about his unfavorable time working on X2, writing in his 2018 memoir, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life, about his challenges with disgraced director Bryan Singer and the nearly five hours spent in the makeup chair.
Nightcrawler has a distinctive appearance with blue skin. The original costume Cumming had to wear featured several harnesses for components like his tail. He also had to put on fake teeth and contact lenses to achieve Nightcrawler’s otherworldly look.
Back in 2003, all of Nightcrawler’s tattoos were drawn by hand, but Cumming says that they are now simply just stuck to his face, which he has called a “gamechanger.”
“I’ve had some makeup tests already for the role,” the two-time Emmy winner revealed during an April appearance on Today With Jenna and Friends, “but what’s great about it was that before it was about four and a half hours to apply it, but now it’s only 90 minutes.”
“It was actually really great to go back. And especially, I’m 60 years old. I did not think I would be doing stunts, playing a superhero in my 60s. So that was great And everyone was really nice,” Cumming told People. “And I got it done really quickly because I couldn't go, because of The Traitors, when most of my scenes were being shot.
“So I squashed them all together, and got a green screen and various things and little scenes of people here and there,” he added. “But it was pretty stealthy.”
Avengers: Doomsday will also welcome the surprise return of Cumming’s fellow X-Men co-stars James Marsden, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Romijn, Ian McKellen, and Channing Tatum.
In an earlier interview with Buzzfeed UK, Cumming seemingly spoiled a scene from the movie when discussing a fighting scene he had filmed.
“I was learning stunts yesterday for some fight scene and I just think, I’m 60 — 23 years ago, I played that superhero. I was kind of old for a superhero even then, and now I’m back doing it. And that, to me, is hilarious,” he said.
“I’m sort of learning these fights and I’m like, ‘What? Who am I fighting with?’ And they said, ‘You’re hitting Pedro Pascal against the head,’ or something.”
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