Alan Cumming Calls X2 'Terrible,' Praises Avengers: Doomsday

Alan Cumming has contrasted his experience returning as Nightcrawler for Marvel's upcoming Avengers: Doomsday with the "miserable" time he endured while filming the classic X-Men movie X2.

Cumming joins numerous returning X-Men actors reprising their roles in Avengers: Doomsday, including Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Ian McKellen as Magneto.

While other X-Men actors continued in later films, Avengers: Doomsday marks Cumming's first time playing Nightcrawler on the big screen since 2003's X2—a production he now describes as "miserable" and "awful for various reasons that I've discussed extensively."

In his 2021 memoir, Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life, Cumming recounted the chaotic filming of X2 under now-disgraced director Bryan Singer. He alleged Singer was abusing painkillers and displaying erratic behavior on set, leaving many actors distressed and angry, ultimately leading to a tense confrontation between the cast and the director.

"I just returned," Cumming told People in a recent interview. "It was amazing. It felt surprisingly healing and heartwarming to revisit something that was a terrible experience the first time around. It’s a great film—I really love the film."

"It was actually wonderful to go back," Cumming continued. "I’m 60 now, and I never expected to be doing stunts or playing a superhero in my sixties. The team was incredibly supportive, and I completed my scenes quickly because of my schedule with The Traitors, which overlapped with most of the shooting."

Although Cumming’s work on Avengers: Doomsday has wrapped, production continues with more actors preparing to join. Ryan Reynolds, star of Deadpool, is expected to film soon, and Xochitl Gomez from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is also rumored to appear.