Alan Cumming says the Nightcrawler makeup process for Avengers: Doomsday shortened considerably since X2 (2025)

Back when 20th Century Fox was making a sequel to their superhero hit X2 with X-Men: The Last Stand, they approached Alan Cumming for an opportunity to reprise his role as one of the iconic mutant characters — Nightcrawler. However, with such a jam-packed cast and a story that didn’t accommodate all of them, Nightcrawler was only to make a short appearance. Cumming would pass on the film since he didn’t find the process to transform into the character worth it for such a short screen time since it would take over four hours.

However, Cumming was recently announced as one of the cast for the upcoming anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe film Avengers: Doomsday. There hadn’t been an official announcement as to who he was playing, but the list of names would include his fellow X-Men co-stars, so it would seem that he’s returning as the great circus performer. Now, Cumming has not only confirmed he’s playing Nightcrawler again, but he’s incredibly pleased with how the makeup process advanced in the years since X2.

According to Variety, Cumming revealed in an interview on the show Today With Jenna and Friends that makeup tests had begun for the Russo brothers film. He explained,

Isn’t it nuts? I’m excited and amazed. It’s been 23 years since I was a superhero. I’ve had some makeup tests already for the role, 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.”

He added, “Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand. They hadn’t decided on them before we started filming. Now, they just stick onto my face. It’s a game-changer. I’m going back to being a 60-year-old superhero, and everyone seems really lovely.”

Meanwhile, another notable cast member of the upcoming Avengers is Channing Tatum, who can be assumed to be reprising his role as Gambit after his chance in Deadpool & Wolverine. However, Tatum isn’t quite sure if he is playing Gambit as he said, “Personally, all I was guaranteed was a chair. They said that I have a chair, and I can at least watch the movie from the chair. You know, and it was just my name, it wasn’t exactly Gambit. So, I work in the world of just like, of binary yes or no’s, and I’ve only been guaranteed so far a chair to watch the movie in, so that’s where I’m at.”

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.