Preparations are underway for Alan Cummings return to the X-Men franchise and his introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Traitors host is one of many actors who joined the cast of Marvels Avengers: Doomsday where he will reprise his role as Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler. With the film set to soar into theaters in May 2026, Cumming revealed hes already undergone makeup tests, sessions that have underscored the advancements in SFX makeup over the past two decades since he last played the blue-skinned mutant. I had some makeup tests already, Cumming said during a Friday appearance on Today with Jenna Friends. It was like four and a half to five hours [of makeup] before, and now its 90 minutes.

Cumming explained when he played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United in 2003 all the tattoos on his characters skin were done by hand because they hadnt decided on them before we started filming. With his upcoming appearance in Doomsday, the technique has been simplified. Now theyre on these little things that stick on [my face,] he said of Nightcrawlers distinctive tattoos. Its a game changer.

The two-time Emmy winner also noted that he was quite amazed to be returning to the X-Men franchise as a 60-year old superhero as its been 23 years since I was a superhero. Cumming pointed out that the film was currently in pre-production and that everyone hes met who is working on the project seems very lovely.

[Avengers: Doomsday] starts shooting quite soon, Cumming added. Its going to be nuts.

The latest Avengers film will see a slew of actors from the MCUs past, present and future compact into one film. On March 26, Marvel confirmed a large majority of Doomsdays cast, including MCU mainstays Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (The Falcon) and Winston Duke (MBaku), plus Robert Downey Jr. in his new role as Doctor Doom.

Notably, Doomsday will be the first Avengers film to tap the X-Men in such a major capacity. Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), who all appeared in the flagship 2000 X-Men film, join the cast alongside X2: X-Men Uniteds Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast) from 2006s X-Men: The Last Stand.