Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 remains one of the most hotly anticipated events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's upcoming schedule. Recent rumors suggest that he'll be joined by other former cast members of the X-Men franchise, including Halle Berry's Storm, James Marsden's Cyclops, and Famke Janssen's Jean Grey. Assuming they prove true, the de facto X-Men reunion could conceivably help introduce the new version of Marvel's mutants to the MCU in the process.
Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler has not been attached to these rumors, and given the actor's unhappy experience on the set of X2: X-Men United, that comes as no surprise. It's also a shame. Nightcrawler remains one of the X-Men's most important characters, yet the movies have consistently underutilized him. While it's unlikely to happen, bringing Cumming back for Deadpool 3 would give his version of the character a proper curtain call before the inevitable MCU reboot.
X-2's Troubled Production Created a Brilliant Nightcrawler
The X-Men franchise has been a mixed bag, to say the least, but X-2 still stands as one of the high points. It kicks off with one of the best action sequences of any superhero movie ever, as a mind-controlled Kurt Wagner single-handedly overcomes the White House's security team to make a staged assassination attempt on the President. Though barely three minutes long, it swiftly and effectively delivers Kurt Wagner and his powers to newcomers: teleporting short distances to knock out multiple opponents in an instant and dodging bullets with a dexterity that Spider-Man would envy. It even adds his circus acrobat's theatricality, as he produces the knife to kill POTUS with a flamboyant "ta-da!"
The film was plagued by nightmarish shooting conditions and alleged ugly behavior from director Bryan Singer (who has since been the subject of multiple credible allegations of sexual assault). In Cumming's case, that arrived on top of the arduous make-up required to bring Kurt Wagner to life, and he declined to appear in any further movies for obvious reasons. Kodi Smit-McPhee took up the role for two movies starting with 2016's X-Men Apocalypse, but he had far less to do than Cumming, and his Nightcrawler was largely reduced to support (as well as adding to the franchise's ghastly continuity problems).
No actor should have to endure a toxic workplace just to deliver a good performance, and Cumming has every right to steer clear of further superhero roles should he wish. However, he made for a truly brilliant Kurt Wagner, and with a different production company (and a healthy work environment), the MCU could offer him a singular opportunity with Deadpool 3.
Deadpool 3 Can Give the Character and Cumming a Second Chance
The Deadpool movies are more team-based than they appear -- the better to give Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth some targets to snark at -- and with Jackman's Wolverine playing a big role in Deadpool 3, it won't be hard to deliver some meaty material for his fellow former X-Men as well. That could easily include Wagner, and with decades of comics to draw from, there are plenty of directions to go in. It could start with Wagner's more playful side, which showed up in bits and pieces during X2 but was largely downplayed in favor of his religious faith. His acrobatic shtick lets him keep up with Wade Wilson more readily -- Deadpool tends to literally bounce off the walls -- and his sense of humor could conceivably provide the title character with a partner in crime as much as a subject for ridicule.
It's most likely the last chance for something like that to happen, regardless. Jackman has already come out of "Wolverine retirement" for Deadpool 3, and the chances of him repeating the feat are slim in the extreme. The other X-Men actors have all moved on with their careers, and the MCU will likely be eager to sign up unknowns in multi-picture deals for its version of the characters. One way or another, this is almost certainly their final bow. Few alums of the 20th Century Fox franchise deserve that chance more than Cumming and the character he so memorably brought to life.