When it comes to Marvel Comics and Nightcrawler, it's all up in the air.

Today, the publisher released the following teaser image of a battle between the famed fuzzy elf - or at least a version of him -battling it out with Wolverine. The image was accompanied by the text "World's Collide."

Of course, longtime readers know that the Nightcrawler of the classic "616" Marvel Universe has been dead since 2010's "X-Men: Second Coming" event. In recent years, teases for the character's return yielded the return instead of the "Age of Apocalypse" universe -a hellish alternate timeline established during the '90s event of the same name. That timeline's appearance in issues of "Uncanny X-Force" saw a different version of Nightcrawler step into the spotlight.

Today's image shows a version of the teleporting mutant with similarities to both the classic and "AoA" variations with the red eye mark being the biggest piece of evidence that this new story will cross the "AoA" timeline back into the regular Marvel U. The Nightcrawler character has continued to play a role in "Uncanny X-Force," and Marvel publishes an "Age of Apocalypse" monthly series written by David Lapham and drawn by Roberto De La Torre, however the art of the teaser appears to be by Ed McGuinness.

Whether the "X-Termination" story will be a crossover, a return for classic Nightcrawler or something else entirely is anybody's guess at this point. But with X-Fans' blood running hot on all things Kurt Wagner, it's a safe bet someone will express anger about the move sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned to CBR for more on the story as it becomes available.