Based on the Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal, it looks like we’ll be getting the Marvel superhero reunion that dreams are made of. Not only will The Avengers and The Fantastic Four be sharing screen time, but so will iconic X-Men heroes like Nightcrawler. Considering I haven’t seen Alan Cumming’s blue-skinned character since 2003’s X2 (which is streaming on your Disney+ subscription), I’m psyched to see the Scottish actor returning for the upcoming Marvel movie. Even more so now after the “ooey gooey comments” he made.
Even though his character was only in one movie, I always thought that Nightcrawler was one of the coolest superheroes of the X-Men movies. Kodi Smit-McPhee may have been excellent in the prequels, but I still can’t get over Alan Cumming’s performance in one of the best action scenes of the franchise when Nightcrawler infiltrated the White House, crawling on ceilings and transporting himself away from flying bullets. So you can imagine how pumped I was to find out Cumming was returning to Avengers: Doomsday with his fellow X-Men cast after 23 years.
Earlier this month, the Spice World actor told People that he “just finished” filming the MCU flick. After describing his return as Nightcrawler with “ooey gooey” comments, I’m even happier about the X-Men mutant’s long-awaited return:
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. A great film, great film. I love the film.
“Ooey gooey,” huh? I need to know what that means. Could he be describing the make-up process? Because at least this time around, the talented actor previously said “what’s great” about his return is only spending 90 minutes in the makeup chair compared to the four-and-a-half hours he spent in X2.
Or, maybe there’s some kind of intense, gory scene he’s involved in. The only spoiler Cumming let slip about Doomsday was that he hits Pedro Pascal’s Reed over the head with something. Whatever Nightcrawler’s role is in the new MCU movie, I’m all for it!
In Alan Cumming’s memoir Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life, he described his experience in X2 as “miserable” due to his extensive makeup time and conflicts with director Bryan Singer. Fortunately, this time around, The Good Wife actor seemed to have a much more positive go, and his reasoning makes a lot of sense:
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. 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. But it was pretty stealthy.
It’s true that age really is just a number in the MCU. Paul Rudd and 10 other Marvel stars are over 50 and can still perform stunt work and wear the armored suits for future superhero movies. So I have no doubt that Cumming can do the same thing. While the Primetime Emmy nominee said his time on set wasn’t “very long at all,” I’d still like to believe he’ll be giving audiences a very memorable performance once again.
Nightcrawler coming back in all of his “ooey, gooey” goodness is a real treat for X-Men fans. With the expectations of the mutant’s thrilling acrobatic scenes and soulful heart coming into play yet again, audiences can look forward to seeing their fan-favorite character transport his way back to the big screen on December 18, 2026.
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