10 Major Movie Franchise Reveals Found In Spin-Offs
2. Nightcrawler Quits The Team - X-Men: The Official Game
Alan Cumming made no secret of his misery filming X2, where he had to endure long hours in the make-up chair to play teleporting mutant Nightcrawler. He still gave a great performance, but it wasn’t a huge shock to learn he wasn’t returning for The Last Stand, given his complaints.
He was still missed, and the movie itself gave no explanation for his absence. That job fell to X-Men: The Official Game, which was released around the same time, and filled the gap between the second and third movies. Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Iceman were all playable, and the game was set in the aftermath of X2.
The team gets into all matter of violent showdowns with classic foes – including Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike – and when it’s all over Nightcrawler tells Professor X he’s leaving, since he’s a peaceful man and their way of life is too violent. The game itself wasn’t great, but it handled the character’s exit quite well.