Comics / Comics News

Is Nightcrawler Coming Back?

By Dan Horn
August 30, 2011 - 17:03

Well, every comic book fan has to be in some part a cynic. How could we not be? Whether our favorite dead heroes are merely floating through time a la quantum bullets (Steve Rogers) or Omega beams (Bruce Wayne), it's safe to say that no superhero stays dead for long. Deaths no longer have to be maintained within regular continuity to make an impact (Spider-Man), and it doesn't even seem to have to make a whole lot of sense; can someone explain to me why Mar-Vell was resurrected during Civil War?

Anyway, one of the latest deaths in Marvel's stable was Nightcrawler, directly preceding the death of Cable. Both characters were killed in the Second Coming X-Men crossover story, but, while there have been rumors of Cable making a return shortly, the House of Ideas has been tight-lipped about their deceased blue teleporter... until now... sort of.

For those who have been lucky enough to keep up with Rick Remender's phenomenal Uncanny X-Force, Nightcrawler is alive and well, in the Age of Apocalypse, anyhow. Well, perhaps he's not quite so alive nor so well after recent developments in the "Dark Angel Saga," but the ambiguity of the AoA X-Men's fate has me wondering if we've really seen the last of those mutants from that alternate reality.

My suspicions aren't unfounded, just in case you were wondering. Recently, Rick Remender tweeted that he didn't know why everyone was so sure that the Nightcrawler in his UXF was the AoA incarnation of Kurt Wagner. I believe the tweet was recently deleted (I can't seem to find it on Rick's Twitter any longer, at least), but there is some residual evidence of the cryptic comment. One fan, who didn't seem to understand that the perceived death (re-death?) of Kurt in the last UXF was just the product of Fantomex's powers of guile, asks how Nightcrawler could be the 616 version if he'd been sliced in half. Remender simply replies, "misdirection".

Another interesting tid-bit is that Marvel has recently received a pitch from Chris Clairemont and Alan Davis for a new Excalibur series. I don't suppose I need to tell you which prehensile-tailed mutant would be perfect for an Excalibur reboot.

So, could your favorite blue-skinned kraut be making a comeback? I wouldn't doubt it. For any dead hero in comic book continuity, resurrection's only a matter of time.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12