Nightscrawlers

I finally picked up the Wizard Magazine movie special yesterday! Juicy, juicy stuff and as I was reading through the articles I could feel myself slowly but surely slipping into complete comic-geek/fanboy mode. I then stumble accross the feature "The Great Debates" on page 68. ( ! )
It's been what, like 2 years since X2? And like 3 or so years since Nightcrawler was confirmed as the major character addition making the jump from the comics to the big screen? Even after all that time for it to sink in. Even with the satisfaction of knowing that "yes, it did happen! it wasnt a dream!" having long since faded, I still actually caught myself instinctively/impulsively YELLING OUT LOUD after reading the "Best Supporting Character:Harry Osborn or Nightcrawler" debate on pg. 72. ......

"Quick: What was the most memorable scene in "X2"?
If you answered Nightcrawler's bamf-filled romp through the halls of the White House, you're not alone. When it comes to edge-of-your-seat, 100 percent-pure fanboy excitement, it's hard to imagine a scene that got fans geeking out more than that opening sequence, which kicked off one of the most anticipated comic movie sequels of all time - along with the movie career of a certain 'Fuzzy elf'. "

WOW.

Are they actually talking about the same little underdog , historically mistreated, underappreciated, and underexposed X- character that die-hard fans have been rabidly defending for years? Not sure what came over me to make me yell like that, but I think that after 3 years the reality of my favorite character making it to the big screen had finally completely sunk in.
The truly amazing thing? Not only did he make it to the screen, but HE STOLE THE MOVIE.
MY favorite character, in arguably THE greatest comic book movie of all time, STEALS THE MOVIE!!! Incredible.

*YES! Characterization-wise BRYAN SINGER 'got it'!
*YES! ALAN CUMMINGS absolutely NAILED the character!!! I mean completely ACED it..... A perfomance out of my wildest dreams!!!
*YES! The opening sequence... ('Nuff said!)

From being depressed about the odds of Nightcrawler even making it into the X-franchise to that. .. I guess what i'm feeling after reading that article is something akin to a person having a kid or someone they really care about who for whatever reason is seen as strange or undesirable to the rest of the world. For years and years this kills them 'cause THEY know just how special this person is and wishes the rest of the world could see that too. Then something amazing/beautiful/impossible happens that forces everyone else to see the special things that they've seen in this person from the very beginning. ( ! )

Kurt Wagner a.k.a Nightcrawler. Almost universally beloved X-character. Fanfavorite. Largely acknowledged as the embodiment of the X-Men's ideals and Xaviers' dream. WORLD. WIDE. MOVIE. STAR. (You just know that the first time he's on screen in X3 the crowd is gonna go wild!)
Who'd a thunk it?
A couple of years ago certainly not me....which makes it that much sweeter!



B A M F !

Fantastic! <3 It's about time Kurt got as good press as he deserves!

It's anout time... go Nightcrawler!:LOL HUZZAH!:bamf

Excellent news, BAMF !

It's true this particular opening scene made him famous and more popular.

More Nightcrawler on X3, please !!!

I hate to be a naysayer, but i don't think Singer nailed Kurt at all (besides his abilities in the opening scene). If you go back and read Alan Davis Excalibur (the ablsolute best Kurt in my opinion) the movie version just doesn't do justice.

Alan Davis' version is fantastic, yes, but it was also done before Kurt's "priesthood" story arc. I have the feeling Bryan was trying to work with the most "current" version of Kurt. Also... well... let's be honest, here. X2 was an incredibly dark movie. If, after all Kurt and the rest had gone through, Kurt looked and acted like the irreverent, witty "class clown", he would have been about as sympathetic as Stryker himself. He'd look like some immature, uncaring sociopath.

To me, Kurt seemed to be in shock for much of the movie. He "wakes up" from a nightmare about going through the Oval Office... inside of the Oval Office, on top of the President, with a knife in his hand and this burning pain in his arm. Immediately after, he realizes that somehow his nightmare is real, he's trapped in a foreign country, he may have killed several NSA people, and he's branded as an assassin. That would have me hiding out and praying to God A LOT, and I'm not horribly religious.

The one time he tried to be flamboyant and "break the ice" with his fellow mutants (Storm had hinted at some comeraderie with that "faith and anger" speech), he got slammed down hard. That look after Logan spat "Save it" just sort of said it all.

The one other thing that Davis' version had, which Singer's simply could *not* have, is experience as a superhero. He *had* seen it all. He *had* been to Hell and back (even if his foster mother was the one playing Satan ). He'd been going against mutant supervillians, anti-mutant forces, magical incursions, intergalactic despots, and rogue government operations for several years. He had confidence and poise. He would have been able to keep his wits about him enough to give some James Bondian one-liners.

In X2, poor Kurt was just beginning. He'd been in the circus all his life, and whether you subscribe to the "he was loved and sheltered" or "he was all alone and had to fend for himself" background (Clairmont's novelization seems to favor the latter ), he still had no experience with more than the casual racist. He's not going to get that kind of experience in the two or three days that X2 contained.

No, MovieKurt wasn't ComicKurt. That's because he didn't have the same surrounding framework. But if you stripped the frameworks away from Movie and Comic versions, I think you'll find a very similar core inside.

Good observations.
However, to me part of what makes Kurt so great is his confidence and the fact that he accepts (heck he seems almost to thrive on) what he is. While i can overlook some of the changes in Kurt, the entire scene with Mystique seems to show this different life view. Kurt seemed to me to be an amalgamation on comic and cartoon (both evo and the X-men TAS) Kurt.

Originally posted by Maelstrom
...No, MovieKurt wasn't ComicKurt. That's because he didn't have the same surrounding framework. But if you stripped the frameworks away from Movie and Comic versions, I think you'll find a very similar core inside.

Extremely well said! I am absolutely a card-carrying ALAN DAVIS fanatic: He handles the character like few others. A couple of years down the road in the movie universe and I imagine we'd get a Kurt very similar to Davis' characterization. There were a LOT of little things that I didnt like about Movie-Kurt, ( Like not letting him keep his cool FANGS and using those goofy 'SHARK TEETH' instead ) but overall I think they did a great job of capturing the essence of the character...


B A M F !

Maelstrom, that was extremely well said. I have this issue with putting my thoughts into words and I think you hit it right on.

Originally posted by luvnightcrawler
Maelstrom, that was extremely well said. I have this issue with putting my thoughts into words and I think you hit it right on.

I agree...I alway got the impression that poor Kurt was overwhelmed...completely and utterly out of his comfort zone…it was natural for him to be standoffish…but we still got to see hints of the blue, fuzzy charmer that comicKurt is…his gentle flirting with Storm…that mischievous look at Rogue…it bodes well for X3…and given Alan’s puckish personality, he’d be able to pull it off no trouble at all…

Of course he wasn't going to be his happy self in X2, he was just held captive and brainwashed into killing the president. I think he'll loosen up in X3 though

Message original : Maelstrom
I'm not horribly religious.

Actually I think you might be on to something there.