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Nightcrawler (character)
Nightcrawler is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in the comic book Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). By the time of his creation, there was already another Marvel character with the same name, but with a hyphen (Night-Crawler), which was later changed to Dark-Crawler to avoid confusion.
Nightcrawler, the superhero identity of Kurt Wagner, is a member of a fictional subspecies of humanity known as mutants, who possess an X-gene that can cause possible physical mutations and in many cases grants some form of superhuman ability. Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility, the ability to teleport, and adhesive hands and feet. His physical mutations include indigo-colored velvety fur which allows him to become nearly invisible in shadows, two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler's earlier comic book appearances, he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. Nightcrawler is a Catholic, and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in later depictions he is more vocal about his faith. He was originally stated to be from a small village called Witzeldorf in the German state of Bavaria.
In 1994, it was revealed that Nightcrawler was the son of mutant supervillain Mystique / Raven Darkhölme, and for many years after a 2003 storyline, it was believed that he was born out of her short affair with Azazel. However, 2023's X-Men Blue: Origins revealed that his parents were actually Mystique and her wife Destiny / Irene Adler; Mystique having shapeshifted into her male form to conceive him, with Destiny being the one who experienced the pregnancy and gave birth to him.
Since his inception, Nightcrawler has had a regular presence in Marvel comic books. He has been featured in many video games, and a small number of the 1990s X-Men animated series episodes and was a regular on its successors, X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men. He was portrayed by Alan Cumming in the feature film X2 (2003) and the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Avengers: Doomsday (2026), while Kodi Smit-McPhee played a younger Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018) and Dark Phoenix (2019).
Dave Cockrum originally created Nightcrawler while he was in the United States Navy, stationed at Guam. He recounted: "I sat up one night in the middle of a typhoon because it was too noisy to sleep, so I stayed up and thought up this character. Originally, Nightcrawler was a demon from Hell who had flubbed a mission, and rather than go back and face punishment, he decided to stay up here in the human world. He was supposed to be the sidekick of another superhero character that I had created named The Intruder." At this point Nightcrawler wore trunks instead of a full costume, but otherwise looked identical to his final version.
Cockrum submitted the character to be part of a group of characters called The Outsiders (not to be confused with the later team The Outsiders), set in the universe of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes series. However, DC rejected the character, resulting in Cockrum importing him to Marvel after he began working on X-Men in 1975. Because editor Roy Thomas wanted the new X-Men to be a multinational group, it was decided to make Nightcrawler German.
Although an X-Men character for years, Nightcrawler did not get his own comic book title (written and drawn by Cockrum) until November 1985. In the four-issue limited series Nightcrawler, along with Lockheed, accidentally travel to several alternate dimensions, meeting strange beings such as the Bamfs. After various adventures, Nightcrawler and Lockheed manage to get home safely.
A second four-issue limited series was published in November 2002. Written by Chris Kipiniak and penciled by Matthew Dow Smith, it focuses upon Nightcrawler's decision to become a priest and his attempts to fight a group of slave traders.
Nightcrawler (character)
Nightcrawler is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in the comic book Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). By the time of his creation, there was already another Marvel character with the same name, but with a hyphen (Night-Crawler), which was later changed to Dark-Crawler to avoid confusion.
Nightcrawler, the superhero identity of Kurt Wagner, is a member of a fictional subspecies of humanity known as mutants, who possess an X-gene that can cause possible physical mutations and in many cases grants some form of superhuman ability. Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility, the ability to teleport, and adhesive hands and feet. His physical mutations include indigo-colored velvety fur which allows him to become nearly invisible in shadows, two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler's earlier comic book appearances, he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. Nightcrawler is a Catholic, and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in later depictions he is more vocal about his faith. He was originally stated to be from a small village called Witzeldorf in the German state of Bavaria.
In 1994, it was revealed that Nightcrawler was the son of mutant supervillain Mystique / Raven Darkhölme, and for many years after a 2003 storyline, it was believed that he was born out of her short affair with Azazel. However, 2023's X-Men Blue: Origins revealed that his parents were actually Mystique and her wife Destiny / Irene Adler; Mystique having shapeshifted into her male form to conceive him, with Destiny being the one who experienced the pregnancy and gave birth to him.
Since his inception, Nightcrawler has had a regular presence in Marvel comic books. He has been featured in many video games, and a small number of the 1990s X-Men animated series episodes and was a regular on its successors, X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men. He was portrayed by Alan Cumming in the feature film X2 (2003) and the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Avengers: Doomsday (2026), while Kodi Smit-McPhee played a younger Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018) and Dark Phoenix (2019).
Dave Cockrum originally created Nightcrawler while he was in the United States Navy, stationed at Guam. He recounted: "I sat up one night in the middle of a typhoon because it was too noisy to sleep, so I stayed up and thought up this character. Originally, Nightcrawler was a demon from Hell who had flubbed a mission, and rather than go back and face punishment, he decided to stay up here in the human world. He was supposed to be the sidekick of another superhero character that I had created named The Intruder." At this point Nightcrawler wore trunks instead of a full costume, but otherwise looked identical to his final version.
Cockrum submitted the character to be part of a group of characters called The Outsiders (not to be confused with the later team The Outsiders), set in the universe of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes series. However, DC rejected the character, resulting in Cockrum importing him to Marvel after he began working on X-Men in 1975. Because editor Roy Thomas wanted the new X-Men to be a multinational group, it was decided to make Nightcrawler German.
Although an X-Men character for years, Nightcrawler did not get his own comic book title (written and drawn by Cockrum) until November 1985. In the four-issue limited series Nightcrawler, along with Lockheed, accidentally travel to several alternate dimensions, meeting strange beings such as the Bamfs. After various adventures, Nightcrawler and Lockheed manage to get home safely.
A second four-issue limited series was published in November 2002. Written by Chris Kipiniak and penciled by Matthew Dow Smith, it focuses upon Nightcrawler's decision to become a priest and his attempts to fight a group of slave traders.