Sadly, Alan Cumming's devilish, teleporting Nightcrawler never appeared in another X-Men film after his debut in the second, the star of a particularly thrilling opening sequence. Apparently Cumming and the crew alike just weren't up for the arduous make-up process for a character that wouldn't appear on screen that much, and his absence was actually explained in a video game of all things. Before he decided to retire from the X-Men because he didn't like all the violence they got involved with, Nightcrawler was the host to a couple of fun little Easter eggs. The music in that opening attack on the White House is "Dies Irae" from Mozart's Requiem because Cumming shares a birthday with the composer. And Nightcrawler's real name, Kurt Wagner, is shared with the singer/songwriter of the band Lambchop, with the character quoting several lyrics in his dialogue.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
