X-Men Star Calls X2 a "Terrible Experience," Praises Doomsday

Alan Cumming has compared his experience reprising the role of Nightcrawler for Marvel's upcoming "Avengers: Doomsday" to the "miserable" time he had filming the classic X-Men sequel, "X2."

Cumming joins many returning X-Men actors 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 subsequent films, "Avengers: Doomsday" marks Cumming's first big-screen return as Nightcrawler since 2003's "X2." He has described that initial production as "miserable" and "awful for a variety of reasons I have discussed extensively."

In his 2021 memoir, "Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life," Cumming recounted the turbulent production of "X2" under now-disgraced director Bryan Singer. He alleged Singer's painkiller abuse and erratic behavior upset the cast, leading to a heated confrontation.

"I just returned," Cumming told People in a recent interview. "It was amazing. It was actually, in a sentimental way, really healing and nice to revisit something that was a terrible experience the first time. It's a great film. I love the film."

"It was actually wonderful to go back," Cumming continued. "I'm 60. I never thought I'd be doing stunts and playing a superhero in my sixties. So that was fantastic. Everyone was lovely. And I finished very quickly because my availability was limited due to 'The Traitors,' which overlapped with the main shooting schedule."

While Cumming's work on "Avengers: Doomsday" is complete, production continues with more actors gearing up. Ryan Reynolds is slated to film scenes soon, and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" star Xochitl Gomez is also rumored to appear.