Alan Cumming Says He “Broke” Pedro Pascal While Filming AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY

Alan Cumming is finally stepping back into the blue makeup, and his return as Nightcrawler in Avengers: Doomsday already comes with a pretty wild story.

The actor recently shared that he quite literally “broke” Pedro Pascal while filming the Marvel Studios epic, and now fans are left wondering if that moment happened during an on-screen clash between Nightcrawler and Mister Fantastic.

Cumming first played Kurt Wagner in X2: X-Men United back in 2003, delivering a White House attack sequence that still ranks among the most memorable moments in superhero movie history.

After walking away from the role for years, largely due to his experience on that film, Cumming is now officially back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Doomsday. That long-awaited return has naturally fueled speculation about how the X-Men factor into the story and who they’ll be throwing down with.

While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Cumming was asked what audiences can expect from Nightcrawler this time around, and his answer quickly went off the rails in the best way possible.

“All of [the X-Men cast] are in it, too. What was funny was that in my first scene with Pedro, he hurt his neck and had to go home. I broke Pedro.”

That line immediately caught Kimmel’s attention, prompting a follow-up about whether the injury happened during a fight scene. Cumming was quick to clarify, though his explanation somehow made the situation even funnier.

“No, I wasn’t fighting. No, no. I was just, sort of, being…we were just together in a scene, and I wasn’t fighting, no. He’s got these big long arms and everything, so it’s quite complicated. I do have a tail, but I didn’t have my tail on at the time. Pedro didn’t have his arms on either.”

This isn’t the first time Cumming has hinted at a physical confrontation with Pascal’s Mister Fantastic. Last May, the actor casually mentioned that he had been deep into stunt training and was stunned to learn exactly who he’d be going up against.

“I was learning stunts yesterday for some fight scene. I’m sort of learning these fights and I’m like, ‘What, who am I fighting with?’ [They’re like,] ‘You’re hitting Pedro Pascal against the head.’ I can’t quite believe [that].”

Whether or not Cumming wants to downplay it now, it sure sounds like Nightcrawler and Mister Fantastic come to blows in Avengers: Doomsday, and that neck injury likely happened during that encounter.

As for the jokes about Pascal’s “big long arms,” that’s probably just Cumming having fun. Still, it’s tempting to imagine the Russo Brothers finding some clever way to incorporate practical stretching effects into the film.

Either way, the idea of Nightcrawler mixing it up with Marvel’s First Family is awesome, and I love that Cumming is already breaking his co-stars.