Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe established that it was in for the long haul, a single question has voraciously swept the nation; when are we getting the X-Men?
The upcoming Deadpool 3 and its wealth of Fox universe characters suggests we’ll be getting them very soon, but nothing is set in stone just yet. Still, that hasn’t prevented the MCU faithful from wondering who could be taking up the mutant mantles when the time comes, and one such name that has yet to enter the equation the way it deserves is Nightcrawler.
The teleporting mutant boasts a marked amount of depth for the MCU to plunge into, from his notable bloodline to his pronounced Catholic fate, all of which is further complicated by the overarching dilemma of mutant discrimination that will no doubt come into play alongside the X-Men.
Alan Cumming and Kodi Smit-McPhee have had their time in the sun, so who might turn up as Earth-199999’s Nightcrawler down the line?
Felix Kammerer
Let’s get one thing out of the way; it’s hard to tell exactly how the MCU is going to establish Nightcrawler in its canon; he could be a new recruit or a seasoned member, he could be a wisecracker or a more quiet contemplator, and it’s hard to say exactly how far Marvel would be willing to go in playing up his Catholic faith.
But if there’s one thing we feel safe betting on, it’s that the life of a mutant in the MCU is one that will be filled with anxiety, and Felix Kammerer – who lead the cast of the Academy Award-nominated All Quiet on the Western Front – knows a thing or two about fielding deep fear in his performances. Indeed, his turn as Paul Bäumer in the aforementioned film was one of palpable-but-not-unshakable strength as he stared hell right in the face. Given that his Austrian nationality could translate to a German mutant like Nightcrawler quite fluidly, the MCU could be a wickedly beneficial next step for the young actor and the franchise alike.
Daniel Radcliffe
The other day, we put out our picks for who amongst the X-Men Daniel Radcliffe could suit up as in the MCU, given his mysterious involvement with Deadpool 3.
Let’s be realistic for a second here; Harry Potter has given this man more money than he probably knows what to do with, and he’s no doubt more than happy having a career where he can quite literally do whatever project he wants. In other words, he doesn’t need that MCU paycheck, and the added time commitment would probably make the plunge not worth it.
But let’s imagine for a second that Radcliffe wants to be Kurt Wagner; there would quite literally be no version of the mutant he couldn’t pull off. He’s youthful enough to be a young Nightcrawler and mature-looking enough to believably slot in as a more senior member, and he has the dramatic and comedic chops to bring forth whatever combination of the two that the MCU’s Nightcrawler would require. Toss in the star-power effect his name would evoke, and you’d have quite the winning number in your cast of X-Men.
Boyd Holbrook
Five bucks says Boyd Holbrook‘s MCU involvement will amount to something to do with Donald Pierce, the cyborg antagonist that he brought to life in Logan, but if push came to shove, he wouldn’t be half bad as Kurt Wagner.
He looks the part, as each of these actors do, and Holbrook has quite the résumé when it comes to this particular ballpark of genre fiction. Furthermore, his ability to put on a menacing front would be quite helpful if the MCU takes a similar approach to the Fox universe’s introduction of the character.
Although, he would be out of the question if Marvel decides they want to go for a more youthful Nightcrawler route. But, we don’t know what the studio is going to do with pretty much any of the X-Men, and plucking Holbrook’s name out of the Disney wheelhouse seems as valid a tactic as any at this point.
Joey King
The fun thing about fancasts is playing around with the possibility that the character in question might be subject to a gender-swap. It’s highly unlikely that this will be the case for Nightcrawler, of course, but on the off-chance that it does happen, Joey King would be a perfect fit.
The young actress would be likely be restricted to the role of a newly-recruited Nightcrawler, of course, but she’s more than a bit believable as a dangerous combatant thanks to The Princess and Bullet Train, and her impressive range could accommodate just about any personality that Marvel would realistically bestow upon the character. So, if this is indeed the age of the gender-swapped Nightcrawler, King is the queen.
Jacob Elordi
Alright, Jacob Elordi, you’re young, you’re in-demand, you’re only going to get more lucrative from here on out, you went to Catholic school, and Marvel loves to recruit big names for their projects; why not be Nightcrawler?
Sure, Elordi’s bread and butter may be romance and drama, but he’s bound to take on something wildly different at some point; maybe Marvel will even play to that strength and include Nightcrawler’s relationship with a Scarlet Witch variant when the mutant storylines enter the ring.
Either way, Elordi’s status as a young, clout-heavy star makes him an easy pick for just about any younger member of the MCU’s X-Men, and Nightcrawler is one such character that he could very well surprise us with if such a casting decision were ever made.
