It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Nightcrawler in an X-Men movie, but he will finally make his return in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Last night, director Bryan Singer announced via Instagram that young actor Kodi Smit-McPhee will be portraying a young Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse.
A photo posted by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on
Smit-McPhee is an Australian born actor who has appeared in the Australian TV mini-series Gallipoli.
Nightcrawler, who was previously played by Alan Cumming in 2003’s X2: X-Men United, is a fan favorite of the X-Men comic book series but hasn’t found his place in the storylines since his time in the sequel. There have been teleporters in the other X-Men installment, most recently with Azazel in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
There’s no word on how exactly a young Nightcrawler will fit in to the storyline of X-Men: Apocalypse. In X2: X-Men United, Storm and Jean track down Nightcrawler for the first time as adults, so there may be some continuity issues to address for the next installment.
The Nightcrawler announcement is the latest in a string of X-Men related casting announcements that have come over the last couple of weeks. Most recently, it was announced that though we won’t see Patrick Stewart returning as Professor X, we will in fact be seeing Ian McKellen return as Magneto. There’s no word how the older Magneto will fit in with his younger self in Apocalypse either.
Previously, Game of Thrones actor Sophie Turner was cast as young Jean Grey while actors Tye Sheridan and Alexandra Shipp were announced to portray Cyclops and Storm respectively.
X-Men: Apocalypse, directed by Bryan Singer, will be released in theaters May 27, 2016.