Fox's X-Men aren't going to look the same when they return in Avengers: Doomsday, especially Nightcrawler, who's getting a more comic-accurate design. The hype around the X-Men's big-screen return has been immense, to say the least. It's no secret that Fox dropped the ball with many of its mutant characters and stories. And now Marvel Studios has the oppurtunity to make things right.
One major misstep that the Russo brothers and their colleagues fixed right out of the gate was Cyclops' look. James Marsden's hero donned nothing but black leather in his first go-around. In his brief appearances in Avengers: Doomsday's marketing, he sports a blue-and-yellow number that looks ripped from a Jim Lee book.
Not every mutant has been lucky enough to get face time in trailers and teasers, though. Nightcrawler, played by Alan Cumming, is still waiting for his moment in the marketing sun. Fortunately, merchandise gives the actor another way to get his name in headlines.
Iron Studios released the first images of an Avengers: Doomsday Nightcrawler statue, now up for preorder at major e-retailers. Standing on top of what appears to be rubble from the X-Mansion, the iconic mutant looks ready for battle.
Clearly, a lot has changed for Nightcrawler since he last appeared in X2: X-Men United, with him now sporting gray hair and a slick black jacket with the X-Men logo on it.
The statue also has him mid-Bamf, putting to bed the notion that he would leave Avengers: Doomsday without using his teleportation powers.
Jumping from one point to another won't be the only trick up Nightcrawler's sleeve when he goes up against not only Doctor Doom but also Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Iron Studios statue, as well as a standee on display at D23 (via Avengers Updates on X), confirms a new weapon in the hero's arsenal, one that likely owes its existence to a certain animated series.
Nightcrawler's Swords Made The Jump From X-Men '97 To Avengers: Doomsday
Alan Cumming's version of Kurt Wagner didn't get much room to grow. After a standout performance in X2, he disappeared without a trace. X-Men: The Last Stand came and went without referencing him. And it wasn't long after that movie failed to meet expectations that Fox soft-rebooted the entire franchise.
A new Nightcrawler, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, showed up a couple of times, including in Dark Phoenix, when he made the most of his screen time by showing out during the train sequence. But Fox's movies never gave Nightcrawler a fair shake, at least not like X-Men '97 has.
In Season 1 of the Disney+ animated series, a group of humanoid Sentinels attacked the X-Mansion. Nightcrawler was one of the heroes left to defend the mutant haven, and he did a bang-up job. After grabbing three swords, the weapon of choice for him in the comics, he sliced and diced his way through the Sentinels.
Avengers: Doomsday is unlikely to spend a lot of time exploring Nightcrawler's feelings and motivations. However, giving him one great action sequence that allows him to show off his skills with a sword would go a long way toward making up for past mistakes.
The addition of the blades to his look might even be a sign of things to come in Nightcrawler's future. After all, Marvel Studios is currently looking for actors to play new versions of Charles Xavier's students in the MCU. If Nightcrawler gets the call, he might come out of the gate swinging a sword, rather than relying on his teleporting for everything.
Nightcrawler struggles with the idea of violence. He would prefer to sit down and talk a problem through than fight about it. As the Avengers: Doomsday statue proves, though, there are times when peace isn't on the table. Nightcrawler is sure to find himself in plenty of those situations in the near and far future.
