Get ready for more of the back-and-forth, he-said/she-said rumors and hearsay surrounding Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which has become a steady manufacturer of half-truths, misdirections and unstable confirmations over the past few days.
The latest involves actor Alan Cumming and his willingness to return to Singer’s mutant franchise as Nightcrawler, the teleporting blue demon who makes an amazing “Bampf” sound when he moves through the space between spaces. Nightcrawler was an integral part to Singer’s X2: X-Men United, and James McAvoy recently let it be known that the actor would be returning for Future Past. The trouble is that Cumming then came out and said he hasn’t even been asked:
Skip to the 31-minute mark of the file, thanks to X-MenFilms.com, where Cumming says about being asked to return, “No, they haven’t [asked me to return]. Someone asked me that the other day and I said no. I know the one that’s coming up shoots this Spring, but I wouldn’t be available anyways. I don’t think they have. I was gonna meet my manager for dinner later, I was gonna ask him, but no, I’m sure they would’ve told me, had they approached.”
Negotiating tactic? Possible. But it’s also possible that Singer just doesn’t have room on screen for all of the X-Men that have to appear on screen for Future Past, which will bridge the First Class world (with early versions of the classic X-Men characters) with Singer’s original films. From what we know, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and many more will return to their roles for the sequel, which takes its story from the comics arc of the same name. And while Nightcrawler remains a fan favorite, it seems like Cumming knows something McAvoy does not … and there will not be a Nightcrawler in Days of Future Past.
