Alan Cumming Says Returning to Play Nightcrawler in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Is "Healing" After "Miserable" X2 Shoot

Alan Cumming is returning to the role of Nightcrawler in the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday, and the experience is not only so much easier make-up-wise, but it’s healing for the actor.

We first saw him in the role of Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in the 2003 movie X2: X-Men United, which was notoriously known for its toxic set, as it was later revealed that the director, Bryan Singer, almost got the whole thing shut down due to his angry outbursts and terrible treatment of cast and crew.

So this return is a welcome breath of fresh air, that Cumming is hoping will rewrite some negative memories from his past. In a recent interview with THR, the actor said of X2, and of Doomsday:

“I had a miserable time making it. All of us did. It was not nice. [Marvel] was very conscious of that. It’s not finished yet, but it feels healing to go back to something that wasn’t the greatest experience and enjoy yourself.

“When I wrote my book, Baggage, I realized that after X-Men, I stopped doing those kinds of bigger, blockbuster-type films.

“I didn’t do anything like that for years. I purposely went away from that big machine because I didn’t want to be an unhappy cog. Going back to a different atmosphere, it’s really nice.”

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026.