Alan Cumming Confirms Faster Makeup Time On Avengers: Doomsday Set.

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday is set to be the most important project in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date and has attracted a massive ensemble cast for the occasion, so fans will be delighted to hear that one important thing is already properly in place.

Avengers: Doomsday is the first proper crossover event of the post-Endgame era in the MCU, and has to contend with the downturn the franchise has taken since that period. As part of the plan to get the MCU back on track, the Russo Brothers returned to the reins of the Avengers films with a plan to reintroduce a central narrative and develop some inspired new ideas for the future of the franchise. True to their word, the duo has set about coalescing all the major players in the franchise for the upcoming project, with the cast getting so massive that the Russos need custom baseball cards just to keep track. Many of the actors set to appear in Doomsday were recently revealed to fans in a livestream, creating some real anticipation for the first time in a few years.

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One of the more interesting names revealed for Doomsday was Alan Cumming, who will join the MCU as Nightcrawler. While there are a litany of actors who could have taken on the MCU role, Marvel Studios brought back the original actor from the Fox era in Cumming, who played the devilishly handsome mutant in X2: X-Men United. In a recent interview on TODAY, Cumming discussed his return to the role and revealed that he was “excited and amazed” by the progress that had been made in one critical department on the production of Doomsday. “It’s been 23 years since I was a superhero,” Cumming explained. “I’ve had some makeup tests already for the role, but what’s great about it was that before it was about four and a half hours to apply it, but now it’s only 90 minutes. Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand… Now, they just stick onto my face. It’s a game changer.”

It’s A Relief That The Nightcrawler Makeup Process Has Been Streamlined

While it’s always great news when the stars of a project are outspoken about the production quality, there are few situations quite so pertinent as the MCU’s Nightcrawler touting the makeup department. There’s a lot that the movie needs to get right about Nightcrawler, but none of that will matter in the slightest if the film doesn’t get the visuals right. For a character with unavoidably unique features, a failure in the costuming and makeup could take viewers out of it for the entirety of their time on screen. As such, Cumming’s comments are a relief for fans worried about just that, as having the process down to such a manageable time frame will ensure that the team (and the 60 year old actor beneath the look) can give their best to the production. It should also inspire confidence in the treatment that others like Beast and Mystique will get on the upcoming project. Marvel Studios has made similar improvements on other sets as well, with Daredevil: Born Again star Vincent D’Onofrio sharing similar excitement about how much easier his Kingpin look comes together now compared to his time on the Netflix version.

While Avengers: Doomsday feels like a very drawn-out MCU epilogue at this point, Cumming’s Nightcrawler and the rest of the X-Men could be the key to shaking off that perception. While they are technically reprising their roles in the upcoming film, they’re new to the MCU and (in the case of Cumming and a few others) far removed enough from the original portrayal that Doomsday will be a first exposure for many casual superhero movie fans. Making a solid first impression could be the key to giving the mutants the central role in Marvel’s cinematic universe that they should have had from the very beginning, and nailing Nightcrawler’s makeup (and doing it efficiently) would be a solid step in the right direction.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 1, 2026.

Avengers: Doomsday

Release Date

May 1, 2026

Director

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Writers

Stephen McFeely

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