Alan Cumming is opening up about how playing Nightcrawler in Avengers: Doomsday was actually “really healing” after his “terrible experience” in 2003’s X2: X-Men United.
The actor recently told People at the Televerse 2025 conference that he “just finished” filming the Russo brothers’ highly anticipated Doomsday film, which is set to hit theaters in May 2026.
“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 was a terrible experience when I did it the first time,” Cumming said. “A great film, great film. I love the film.”
The Traitors host has previously been open about why it was so “miserable” to make the 2003 X-Men sequel, including the challenges of spending “like four and a half to five hours” in makeup each day to transform into the blue-skinned mutant, as well as difficulties with director Bryan Singer.
However, he said it “was actually really great to go back” for Doomsday as it was much more positive this time around.
“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,” he said. “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.”
While details surrounding the Phase Six installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are being kept under wraps, Cumming previously teased that his Nightcrawler may have a fight scene with Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic.
The Avengers: Doomsday cast also includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (The Falcon), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing) and Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch), among many others.