Wilkommen...To CabareX

It hasn't failed yet. As soon as I print a casting rumor, no matter how confirmed it is (even by Variety), it will immediately be debunked.

Hmm...pointed ears, elfin look, ability to scare small children... yep. This is Nightcrawler.

And so it has happened again. We finally run that Ethan Embry is in the running to play Nightcrawler in X2, and Fox pulls the rug out from under us.

Confirmed this morning in Variety by reporter Michael Fleming, the actor cast as Kurt Wagner is Alan Cumming. Yes, Floop from Spy Kids, Boris from Goldeneye, will be playing, as Fleming reports it, "...a shadowy blue-tinted superhero with a tail whose great gift is the ability to teleport from one location to another."

Cumming certainly has the chops and the German accent, having honed it in his Tony award winning performance as the Emcee in Cabaret. At any rate, Cumming's casting makes more sense than Embree, who projects a wide-eyed innocence that does not fit Nightcrawler. Kurt Wagner may want to believe the best in people, and be able to enjoy life, but he completely understands the dark side of humanity.

According to Aint It Cool News, Nightcrawler will initially appear as a hypnotized would-be assassin, crossing paths with the X-Men as they investigate.

In addition, Fleming uncovers that the role of Pyro has been recast from his brief cameo in X-Men. To become a major player in X2, Pyro will now be played by Aaron Stanford, whose one film so far, Tadpole, was well-regarded at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

Derek McCaw

 

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