Kurt Wagner was born a mutant, the offspring of a mutant and a demon (Mystique and Azazel). He was abandoned and raised by loving foster parents, eventually joining the circus as Nightcrawler, using his unique teleportation and agility to wow the audience. Eventually he was turned on for being a mutant, which resulted in him meeting Charles Xavier and joining the X-Men in Giant Size X-Men #1, his first appearance from creators Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. He has been a member of a few different X-teams including Excalibur, and is a recognised leader among the X-Men. Nightcrawler gave his life in the Second Coming event, but when did that ever stop an X-Man? While Nightcrawler has been involved in many battles with Apocalypse, it's the alternate reality version of Kurt that has the most ties to En Sabah Nur. During the Age of Apocalypse, Kurt Darkholme is a wildly different character with a much closer connection to his mother, Mystique. AoA Nightcrawler also played a large role in the mainstream universe as a brief member of Wolverine's X-Force team. Darkholme took a villainous turn for a while, but eventually sacrificed himself to seal off the Age of Apocalypse reality forever... which is an indication of just how bad things got there under Apocalypse's rule. We loved Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United. The opening scene that features his attack on the White House is still one of the best mutant scenes ever put on film. Unfortunately, it is time to recast the character and bring Nightcrawler back to the big screen in a new way. It's time to see the funny, high-spirited swashbuckling version of Nightcrawler we know and love, sides of Kurt we didn't get to see with the dark and brooding Nightcrawler of X2. The character may have to be written as younger to work in the already confused timeline of the X-franchise (especially considering his parents are both established in First Class), but as we saw in the animated series X-Men: Evolution, a young Nightcrawler is still a great Nightcrawler.
Sent to Earth from a dying planet, young Scott Fraser grew to adulthood in Alberta, Canada with a love for comics, film, games, and all things deep fried. He has dedicated his life to pedantic ramblings about continuity, superhero superiority, and Han shooting first. He also writes for Geek Magazine.
