X-Men’s Alan Cumming ‘Excited and Amazed’ to Make Marvel Return

Alan Cumming is “excited and amazed” to return to Marvel in Avengers: Doomsday.

The 60-year-old actor portrayed Nightcrawler in 2003’s X2: X-Men United and is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, and has now revealed a big reason he agreed to return was because the makeup process to get into character has been streamlined.

Speaking with fellow X-Men star Olivia Munn on Collider, Cumming said: “Isn’t it nuts? I’m excited and amazed. 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 … Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand. 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.”

The Spy Kids star also revealed Avengers: Doomsday “begins shooting quite soon” in London, and teased the film is “going to be nuts.”

In addition to Cumming, other X-Men alums returning for Avengers: Doomsday, which will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, include Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique).

Avengers: Doomsday will see the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts and the X-Men team up in an effort to stop the dreaded Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).

While several X-Men stars will be returning for Avengers: Doomsday, Halle Berry, who played Storm from 2000’s X-Men to X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014, recently admitted she had no plans to make Marvel movies again.

Asked if she would consider coming back to the genre, she simply told Extra: “Nope!”

Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on May 1, 2026.