Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler was only ever in one X-Men film, the 2003 outing X2: X-Men United. Yet his comparatively short amount of screentime didn't stop him becoming a fan favorite, and now he's back for more.

Cumming was one of the names announced for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, meaning it's time for the actor to get back under Nightcrawler's blue skin. But that's not always an easy task. Actors in superhero movies have long lamented having to spend hours in the makeup chair doing nothing while their skin is poked at and prodded. But Cumming has already had a go with new Nightcrawler makeup, and he's delighted.

Cumming was one of the names announced for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, meaning it's time for the “Isn’t it nuts? I’m excited and amazed,” Cumming said on a Today With Jenna and Friendsinterview, via Variety. “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.”

A big part of that was due to a speeding-up in applying Nightcrawler's tattoos. “Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand,” Cumming said. “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.”

Cumming will be joined by several other Fox-era X-Men, including a couple more blue ones, in Avengers: Doomsday. Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) will all be back. Some other big names, including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, have been left off the list... for now, at least.

Alan Cumming Had A Terrible Time On X2: X-Men United

Cumming wasn't a fan of the makeup process on his first X-Men movie, but there was far worse going on. The film was directed by since disgraced director Bryan Singer, and according to Cumming life on set was miserable for everyone.

I would be in that awful blue makeup.

Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast back in 2021 (via Yahoo!) he pulled no punches about how dire he found the whole experience. "We were really in a very bad working situation," he said. "It was dangerous, it was abusive, and the studio didn't care. All the actors said something and they still just went: 'Oh, nevermind. It's only gonna be a few more weeks, don't worry. And it's gonna make a lot of money.' They actually said that and also 'you're under contract'. And I said: 'I don't want to feel dirty about going to work'. I would cry, it was just tragic."

He went on, "I would be in that awful blue makeup. I put on loads of weight during that because I would just eat, I was exhausted. My boyfriend at the time would make all these crazy big meals.I would go home, eat a ton, have a couple glasses of wine, burst into tears and go to sleep. And then go and be a miserable blue mutant [the next day]."

Hopefully, Avengers: Doomsday will redeem the experience of playing Nightcrawler.

Source: Variety