The Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal saw Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), and Deadpool & Wolverine's Channing Tatum (Gambit) all board the movie.
Characters like Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Storm (Halle Berry), and Rogue (Anna Paquin) are all notable by their absence, as is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (though we got a potentially positive update on that front yesterday). We expect to see a bigger X-Men team than the one above, perhaps with a few new Multiversal Variants added to the mix for good measure.
Back to those confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, and Cumming's Nightcrawler remains one of the most beloved characters from the X-Men franchise, despite only appearing in 2003's X2: X-Men United.
The teleporter's attack on the White House is rightly considered iconic, so the actor reprising the role in Avengers: Doomsday is incredibly exciting (we're sure the Russo Brothers will attempt something that at least attempts to match the classic sequence).
Why was the X-Men franchise a one-and-done for Cumming? He's previously pointed to "dangerous" and "abusive" experiences on set, with the implication being that filmmaker Bryan Singer was not someone he enjoyed working for. Remember, it's previously been reported that one of the producers nearly shut the movie down due to the director's allegedly erratic behaviour.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cumming further reflected on why he hated filming X2, and shared his excitement to play Nightcrawler again, albeit for Marvel Studios this time.
"No [I didn't expect the call to return]. There was already a younger version of my character played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. That’s happened to me several times, where there’s a remake of something I’ve done with someone younger. It’s kind of galling. But when I was asked to meet the Marvel people, nobody knew whether it was indeed Nightcrawler or some other part. It’s interesting because that was one of the films that was not a great experience at all to make — and ended up being a really great film."
"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."
As much as we're all looking forward to seeing Nightcrawler "BAMF" his way through a battle with the Avengers and Fantastic Four, the fact Avengers: Doomsday marks a healing moment for Cumming makes his return feel even more special.
Rumour has it we'll see Kurt Wagner and his fellow X-Men in fully comic-accurate costumes too. That's another example of redemption for these characters are Singer robbed the mutant team of those in preference of uniform black leather.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make the Avengers franchise debuts in the movie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, and Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct the movie from a script by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Captain America and Avengers franchises.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.