Extra, Extra!: Our First Look at X-Men: Apocalypse's Nightcrawler

In which I report on the latest entertainment news.

With everybody's attention turned decidedly on either Age of Ultron or Dawn of Justice, a lot of X-Men: Apocalypse news has managed to sneak its way under the radar.  And that's really a shame, because at virtually any other time, this would have been some pretty exciting stuff.  There's the matter of its rapidly expanding cast (which includes series newcomers Jubilee and Psylocke), our first look at the impressive Archangel and, now, our first look at the revamped Nightcrawler.

I'm definitely a lot happier with this rendition of the character than I was with X2's.  That other version always seemed too thick for me: where you could pretty much tell that the the actor was wearing a prosthetic to achieve his wildly alien look.  I was never unhappy with his appearance - it was, after all, a very good prosthetic - but it was never quite as convincing as I hoped it would be.

It was the same basic issue that I took with the original Mystique, although her constant shapeshifting considerably lessened this effect.  This Nightcrawler seems to have taken its visual cues from First Class' Mystique, however, as he is smaller, lither and considerably younger.

That's not to say the the original version was necessarily lacking, just that whatever makeup technology that they were using back then doesn't hold up as well as whatever they're using now, which really shows off the physical abilities of these superhuman characters.

It probably helps that they chose to go with a much brighter shade of Blue, which makes him visually pop in a way that the duller hues of his original version couldn't quite manage.  It also shows of his distinctive scars a lot better than the first time around, which further highlights his incredibly distinct appearance.

X-Men: Apocalypse's Archangel

If there's one thing that I dislike about this particular version of the character, it's his emo bangs, but I doubt that it'll bother me too much when I finally get to see him in action.  Visually, at least, X-Men: Apocalypse is probably my most anticipated movie to come out in the next couple of years.  As long as these reveals keep coming, I see no reason why that should change.

So do you prefer the new version of Nightcrawler, or the old version?  Why?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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