Alan Cumming Reveals Why Playing Nightcrawler in ‘Doomsday’ Will Be Much Easier Than Before

On March 26, 2025, the world’s attention was fixated on Marvel Studios as they unveiled the cast of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday over the course of a five-and-a-half-hour livestream.

By the time the dust had settled, it had become clear that Marvel envisioned three separate groups of characters in the film.

In addition to returning Avengers Thor, Ant-Man, Loki, Black Panther, Captain America, and Shang-Chi, Doomsday will see newer heroes, such as The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts, join the battle.

Enter the X-Men

Finally, there are the X-Men. In what was perhaps the most surprising (and exciting) part of the Doomsday reveal, Marvel announced that the original Fox X-Men will assemble for the multiversal adventure. Among the returning heroes will be Beast (Kelsey Grammer), Cyclops (Scott Summers), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), and Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart).

Ian McKellen in X-Men. Photo: Fox

Perhaps the most surprising inclusion in the Avengers: Doomsday announcement was Alan Cummings.

The Return of Nightcrawler

For those who may not remember, Cumming portrayed the fan-favorite X-Man Nightcrawler in Fox’s X2: X-Men United.

Photo: Fox

While Cumming’s performance was well-received, he would not reprise his role in any subsequent X-Men films. Now, he will get his chance to suit up again for Doomsday.

Cumming Discusses His Return

During a recent appearance on NBC’s Today with Jenna & Friends, Cummings expressed his excitement about reprising his role as Nightcrawler.

Photo: TheWrap

“I’m going back to being a 60-year-old superhero, and everyone seems really lovely,” he said.

The actor also revealed that the makeup process has gotten easier in the intervening 23 years.

Photo: Fox

“Actually, what’s great about it, it was four and a half to five hours before, and now it was 90 minutes,” he said, before explaining that “before all the tattoos were done by hand because they hadn’t decided on thm before we started filming and now there are all these little things that stick on — it’s a game changer.”

The Actor Has Discussed the Makeup Process Before

While Cumming has sounded downright elated to be joining the MCU alongside his X-Men brethren, the actor previously revealed the difficult process he had to undergo in order to play Nightcrawler.

“The character is really interesting, the message of the film (tolerance of others who are different from us) was very timely and unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster, but the real drag was having to spend over four hours a day having two men poke my face,” Cumming said on his website.

Photo: marvel

“Then there were the harnesses for the tail and for flying, the feet, the hands — which made going to the loo a group effort, the teeth, the lenses, oh God don’t get me started.”

Thankfully, it sounds like the actor will be in for a more enjoyable experience this time around.

Photo: BBC

Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on May 1, 2026.