Kodi Smit-McPhee Joins X-Men: Apocalypse As Young Nightcrawler

Fan-favorite teleporting mutant Nightcrawler was a scene stealer in 2003’s X2: X-Men United, but has remained absent from the franchise ever since. Thankfully, that’s about to change, as Bryan Singer has announced that a young version of the character will be in next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse and that he’ll be played by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Let Me In actor Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Singer made the announcement via Instagram, saying simply that he’s excited to welcome Smit-McPhee to the film. How big the role is or what it might entail remains a mystery, but I imagine it will be a relatively small part, and perhaps similar to Evan Peters’ role as Quicksilver in last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

That is, of course, conjecture on my part, and based solely on who else Singer has managed to wrangle together for this film. It won’t only be a trilogy-ending entry for the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Nicholas Hoult, but will introduce the young counterparts of other core X-Men characters like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, who are being played by Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner and Alexandra Shipp, respectively.

Those aren’t the only key characters joining the next mutant pic, either; Rose Byrne is set to reprise her role as X-Men: First Class‘ Moira MacTaggert, Peters will return as Quicksilver, Sir Ian McKellen will (somehow) return as the older Magneto, Channing Tatum is rumored to show up as Gambit, Oscar Isaac will play the titular villain and Hugh Jackman may very well return as Wolverine. That sounds like a lot of characters to juggle, but Singer proved that he could handle a sprawling cast in Days of Future Past, so I have no doubt that he has more surprises in store for us when Apocalypse arrives.

As for Smit-McPhee, he’s an interesting and perhaps inspired choice for a complicated character like Kurt Wagner. Personally, I’m thrilled to hear that Nightcrawler is back in the franchise, and I hope that Singer dives a bit deeper into his backstory (he’s the son of Mystique and X-Men: First Class‘ Azazel) than he did back in 2003.

X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters on May 27th, 2016.