Alan Cumming Admits He “Doesn’t Fully Understand” Avengers: Doomsday: “I’m Here to Run Around”

Marvel’s obsession with secrecy has become part of the brand, and the buildup to ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ is no exception. Advance ticket sales reportedly passed $50 million three months before its December 18 release. Alan Cumming’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ comments have now added a funny new chapter to that story.

Cumming is returning as Nightcrawler, a mutant he first played in ‘X2: X-Men United’. It is the first time in 23 years that he has stepped back into the role. He is joined by fellow returning ‘X-Men’ stars Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden.

Here is the surprise. Cumming told SiriusXM that he doesn’t fully understand the plot of the film.

The actor’s explanation is disarmingly simple. He said most of his scenes were shot in front of a blue screen, and that one rare day on the backlot was the exception. When a crew member started walking him through what the giant robots in the scene were doing, Cumming politely cut in and asked only where he should point and what he should do.

“There was a bit when we were shooting a scene, and it was one of the rare scenes when I was actually on the backlot and not in front of a blue screen. And this man came and said, ‘So right now Alan, these giant robots are blah blah,’ and started to tell me the thing, and I was like, ‘You know what, thank you so much, but just tell me where I point my, whatever I point. And I’ll do that. Really, I just know I’m here to run around’… And I saw Florence Pugh yesterday at the Emmys. And I said, ‘Gosh, it’s so funny. I’ve never met you, but you lay on top of me, or your body double did.’ And she goes, ‘Yeah I lay on top of you as well, but it was your body double.'” (via SiriusXM)

His summary of his own role was self-deprecating: he is there to run around. It is a candid picture of what a Marvel shoot can feel like for an actor who only gets script pages for his own scenes. Marvel also reportedly had him film in isolation from the rest of the cast.

That kind of secrecy is standard for major tentpoles, which often rely on tightly controlled scripts to prevent leaks. It also makes it easy to imagine how disjointed the process can feel, especially in a film with a cast this large.

The funniest part of the story involves Florence Pugh. Cumming said he ran into her at the Emmys and told her they had technically never met, even though she had lain on top of him in a scene, or rather her body double had. Pugh reportedly replied that she had lain on top of him too, but it was his body double.

In other words, the two stars have shared a scene without ever sharing a set. Their doubles did the heavy lifting, which puts the fight at the X-Mansion shown in the trailer in a different light. Variety’s reporting suggests Nightcrawler and Yelena Belova are unlikely to interact again after that sequence.

The timing is notable, because Cumming has been all over television as well. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for hosting ‘The Traitors’, and he can currently be seen in ‘The Traitors: New Blood’, which airs Thursdays on NBC.

He has also been open about the physical side of the movie in the past. He previously joked that at 60 he was learning stunts for a fight with Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, and that returning to play a superhero after 23 years struck him as hilarious. He has also said that the makeup for Nightcrawler now takes about 90 minutes instead of roughly 4 and a half hours.

Nerdist described him as one of the most likable and up-front people in Hollywood, and noted that he has now broken Marvel’s embargo yet again. It is hard to argue with that read, since fans clearly love hearing what filming these movies is really like.

He used to be different.

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/J5PUbxvAkc pic.twitter.com/OUutSMZneq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 15, 2026

None of this suggests that the film is in trouble. The cast is enormous, and it includes Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom, the Doctor Doom at the center of the threat. Scenes are often filmed in pieces, and actors are often asked to trust the process.

What it does show is how Marvel’s approach has turned even its stars into fans waiting for the finished film. If Cumming is still unsure what is happening, the audience has a chance to be surprised right alongside him.

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