Yeah, the erasure of religion from media is weird. Even in Call of Duty, in the first game, Woods, a friend of the main protag, says,",God bless you" to someone and I even saw a comment saying that in one part Bowman, another friend of the protag's, was praying.
One thing I love about Kurt is his friendship with Kitty Pryde. On paper, The two are completely different in terms of personality with Kurt being more fun loving and easygoing compared to Kitty. Yet the two act as emotional outlets for each other and are willing to lend a shoulder to cry on for each other. I think their friendship is perhaps one of the strongest Male-female friendships I’ve seen that doesn’t turn into a romantic relationship.
@@00pium_kingvampstan With how devout Kurt is to his faith and how tied to Judaism Kitty is in the comics it's not a relationship that could ever last long if we go by Catholic dogma as marriage requires either Kitty to convert or Kurt to become an apostate. Not that Marvel likes marriage....however in Catholicism, even the liberal version Kurt has, marriage is the end goal. Especially with someone as family focused as Kurt.
The friend group of those two, Logan and Piotr just… gives me life. Only one pairing is actually ever romantic, Kitty has two platonic guy friends with whom she’s got great dynamics, Kurt gets on with everyone in general… Great stuff. Nothing is truly sacred because writers gonna writer… but we can just mentally detach anything that’s crap. Like that concept, or Kurt being part-demon, or… freaking everything about Zeb Wells’ current Spidey run.
What I like about xmen is the diversity of thought Kurt: catholic perspective Kitty: youth perspective Colossus: immigrant perspective Wolverine: the rebel perspective Beast: scientists perspective
@@falconeshield no her and Colossus were a couple for a long while back in the 80s, she date iceman in the 2000s and even star lord in the 2010s. She was always Jewish though, and go figure that her and Kurt were like siblings
I think Wolverine is the trauma perspective. From all the wars, physical damage, loss, and when he loses his agency. Also, he has lived a long time and that means he has two lifetimes of experiences adding to the trauma.
Watching it right now for the first time and it’s fantastic. I just started season 3 and I wish the school episodes had a bit more of a focus, the slice of life episodes were fun. Also, Xavier is a great mentor figure throughout the show.
I also started to see the series some weeks ago and I only got 3 episodes left!! Great series and I agree, I think some of the best moments of the series come from the school activities
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Me personally, I actually watched X2 before and I also saw wolverine and the X-men and man, I was loving nightcrawler. Gambit is my favorite, but man he was barely in anything other than the 90s show, but I was practically obsessed with nightcrawler. Hes so lovable and my original favorite despite a lot of wolverine.
Sometimes when watching media I am ashamed to be catholic due to them often portraying it through obsessed fanatical villains. I am in no way saying that people like that don’t exist but it has almost become a cliche at this point. Seeing your video gave me a newfound love and respect for Nightcrawler, a character that I’ve never really been into, and now I want to read his stories to learn more about him. I think the way you described religion as a means more for self-reflection is the perfect way people should use it. Love the videos keep it up!
I agree and it happens so often that it's become a boring overdone trope. I'd like for them to just portray Catholics as normal people, since that's what almost all of them are. That would actually be something different.
I loved Kurt's Catholicism, it's probably a huge part of why I love the character, including his introduction in tas where he is so unapologetically Christian. It really made me happy to see it, as someone similarly tired of the evil religious guy or religious victim trope
I prefer mutants who can't blend in because it feels like it takes more of a actual effort to relate to someone different This feels like a main reason why synth android stories struggle often
There’s this mini comic I love. Wolverine, Jean and all of the normal looking X-Men are all like “being a mutant is so hard.” And Beast, Blob and Nightcrawler are like:
I think one of the great things about Kurt is that he's a character who has already gone through his arc, this makes him great at supporting others in their arcs but it does make it really hard to have a story centred around him without backtracking his development. That being said, having a story of a younger Nightcrawler before all of his development would work really well as we see with Evolution.
It's 100% not a reach at all to say people find Nightcrawler attractive as is. He has had legions of fangirls since day one and has been a formative fictional crush for a lot of people who grew up watching the movies. The amount of x readers and demand for Nightcrawler content? It is not crazy to think somebody would like him Nightcrawler IS hot and handsome. And he's kind, angsty and just such a good man. We adore him so much (I've written so much) he deserves a love interest!!!!
The most unrealistic part of She-Hulk was no one wanted to date her lol. Obviously someone would give Kurt a go. Also tieflings should have tails like nightcrawler.
I have a feeling its because most men would become insecure around she hulk because she'd contrast with their style of masculinity. Of course, daredevil doesn't mind though. Me personally, I probably wouldn't mind she hulk. And I usually prefer girls shorter than me.
I mean, when Beast was an avenger he was pretty popular with girls (I don't know if it's a thing even outside that run), so I guess it would not be strange at all if someone was interested in Kurt.
Nightcrawler had a relationship with the Scarlet Witch in Wolverine and the X-men. I actually really liked that storyline. I'm glad he is a priest in the new show. There are enough relationships on that shows.
@@BloodyMary74 The "new" show is merely a continuation of the 90s X-men cartoon. X-men TAS had Nightcrawler as a priest in its original run, that's why he's one in the new series.
@@_davidboxingI agree. It's way better than Wolverine and Xmen. Xmen Evolution is such a refreshing take on the Xmen. Love the way they treated Cyclops. And made Logan a mentor figure to the Xmen instead of having him be part of a love triangle.
Nightcrawler is also my favourite X-Men and such a pure soul and incredibly likeable character, especially since I loved him X-Men Evolution, the 90's show and in the recent X-Men 97 series. I really cant see how anyone could hate him or dislike the character. Nightcrawler truly embodies everything the X-Men are fighting for and is the heart and soul of the X-Men as despite looking like a demon from Hell and no one would blame him if he hated humanity, but no he doesn't hate the people who hated him, he is more enlightened and human than most human beings. He uses his faith and guidance with the X-Men to learn that hatred will never allow him to be happy and rather he uses his faith in Christianity as a earnest guiding light in helping the people who despised him, even though he doesn't have to. I also love how Nightcrawler's faith isnt toxic as Kurt knows that a true man of God would not persecute others that dont believe what he believes as that would make him as bad as the people that saw him as a monster and only shares his beliefs and values only when truly needed in order to help those who seek it and he doesn't forcibly try to push his religion onto others, he just lives his life helping others. I also ADORE his dynamic with other characters like his special friendship with Wolverine, his adorable friendship and bond with Kitty Pryde as a big brother to her, and especially his wholesome unconditional love for Rogue as his adopted sister. What else can I say... I ADORE Nightcrawler😈✝️❤☺️
Kurt while has his faith certainly isn't super pure or a pious type of person. Let's not forget that he's a charming ladies man, having dated as many women as Warren, Hank or pre Rogue Remi. Not only that but when he was in the afterlife/heaven he became bored because there was no fighting there. Lol Just saying 😉👍
Nightcrawler solo movie, Nightcrawler vs his father Azazel meets his brothers with similar powers. A Catholic allegory a then he verses his devil father it’ll be poetic. 10/10 would watch
I’m not practicing anymore, but growing up in the church there were some streams of thought in the Church where Kurt would have felt very much at home. He’d definitely be either a Salesian or a Franciscan. If they go back to having the Xavier school, I always thought it would make sense for him to be the humanities teacher. I feel like those kids’ educations are very STEM heavy lol.
I assume the sad reality of the Xavier school is basically most of those kids end up as heroes for hire of sorts or in some sort of field like that. The ones after it especially the one Scott ran i think just trained child soldiers
To clerify, it’s not a retcon mistique being his father was origionally the idea when it was introduced, but the author chris clairmont wasn’t allowed to do it since the heads of marvel comics at the time didn’t allow it.
I've always loved Nightcrawler, and I will ALWAYS click on a video essay about him. I think the reason I like him so much is how much I can relate to him. While Im not religious, other aspects really resonate with me. His cheery disposition, always willing to be a friend for someone in need, despite all of the messed up things that have occurred in his life, is exactly how I try to live my life. He's seen some of the worst things people can do to others, yet doesnt let him affect his outook on life, which I find to be incredibly respectable. Anyways, I just love the character so much, glad to see some Kurt appreciation
My favorite Nightcrawler origin is with Mystique and Azazel as his parents. Always just made perfect sense to me. And makes me enjoy those other two characters more in turn, having them related one of my favorite mutants. Especially in the stories like X Men Animated/97 where Mystique adopted Rogue.
Nightcrawler was actually my original favorite character. Of course, gambit is my favorite, but i really still love Nightcrawler. Ill even list a few reasons why. 1. Hes so friendly and cheerful. I love how hes immediately energetic upon arrival in genosha when rogue and gambit arrive. Hes so lovable! 2. Hes blue and blue is a favorite color of mine. On top of that, i love his outfit. Its simple yet stylish. Id wear it. 3. His teleportation ability made me fascinated with him. 4. Despite myself being atheist, him being catholic, similar to daredevil who's also one of my favorites, Nightcrawler doesnt make religion an upfront part of his character. Its tiring when I see people devote their life to religion, i understand they probably either grew up that way or chose that life, but they dont seem like they can really relax without feeling like they broke a religion related rule or something. Nightcrawler however, its a small side thing for him. Sure hes still religious, but he doesnt make it a big deal which i honestly appreciate. It's the same case for daredevil, even though i stopped being religous, im still fascinated by catholicism since im a former Christian but i still love their character. 5. Nightcrawler is a charming character. I was introduced to him in X2 and his character in wolverine and the X-men made him so endearing! I mean, he carries himself with flair and charisma and hes also super loving and caring for others and want people treated fairly since his past in Germany, people rioted against him just for not looking human. I kinda resonate with him as i was always treated differently since i had learning troubles with ADHD and i was bullied a lot, but nightcrawler is so cool regardless.
@@Brotherofthe4thCompany well kinda more of pope for those who are catholic. Ngl, characters like daredevil and nightcrawler make me interested in catholicism as a former Christian.
RAAAAAH NIGHTCRAWLER BEING ACKNOWLEDGED FOR HOW GREAT HE IS🦅🦅‼️‼️💯 He's been my favorite since I was a kid and he's so underrated to me, so im glad to see a video where someone says exactly what I've been thinking 💙
There's a reason Meggan was questioning herself in those early issues. Brian was dealing with his drinking problem, and wasn't the best partner at times, whereas Kurt is so much more playful and fun, and he's an unrepentant flirt, even if it's (mostly) innocent on his part. He and Brian play off of each other so well, just like Meggan and Kitty do.
Nightcrawler is just one of the purest best characters in Marvel, he just fits anywhere with anyone. I wish he was used more in mainstream Marvel media and adaptations.
i grew up with religious trauma, and it’s pretty ironic how he turned out to be my favorite character. He was the first outlet i had to positive views on religion growing up. that i didn’t have to fear ending up going to hell just for putting salt on my plate. I love Kurt ☹️🤍
X-Men Evolution is underrated (because of the whole "turn 2/3rd of the cast into highschool teens" schtick, I guess), and it's Age of Apocalypse storyline was honestly amazing and much better than the boring appearance of Apocalypse in the X-Men live action movies.
My family had 2 episodes of the OG cartoon on CD when i was young, and the episodes we got were Nightcrawler's orgin and one focused on Gambit. They're been my favorite X-Men ever since.
> X-Men: Evolution brilliantly showcases Nightcrawler’s character and necessity on the team. > J.Law’s Mystique couldn’t be separated from Katniss, which handicapped any nuanced exploration of her morality. > SUPERMAN IS A MOSES ALLEGORY. >Tiefling Kurt is a hottie. Just a sample of the numerous great points you made in this one video haha, so happy to have found your channel 😁!
Kurt's main character material. Always has been. And in regards to thicclings or thinling tails. I think Both works, and in regards to D&D, I think Demon-tieflings would be more likely to be thicc, and the Devil-descended tieflings more likely to be thin-dextrous-tailed.
One of the best decisions Marvel made was to put Kurt over in Excalibur. He had a chance to shine among the ensemble in the early years, then he became team leader (after having failed miserably at it in the main book, to the point that Kitty was effectively team leader at 14) and did an amazing job at keeping the team together and focused, especially by backing Moira's play to keep them out of the Onslaught situation, because Excalibur might end up the last team standing and have to take on more than just the British Isles and western Europe. His relationships with his mothers is fascinating, each in a different way. I'm just now catching up on Fall of X, and seeing his interactions with Destiny.... It's hard not to cry reading through that arc.
Based on what happened at the end of the first Nightcrawler episode in tams, Gambit follows the philosophy of Albert camus, especially when he says, "We on our own in this world. Life is random." Would love to see them engage in discussions on faith/philosophy.
I just read through powers and house of x and the scene where logan and nightcrawler both know that they'll have to sacrifice their lifes. Logan asks nightcrawler if there's anything for him on the other side and nightcrawler responds saying "when you wake from this earthly slumber, my friend. Look for me. Ill be there waiting for you radiant with open arm." That shit hit different and instantly jumped nightcrawler up on the chad tier list
Kurt was always my favourite X-Men, ever since I watched the cartoons as a kid. I loved his personality and look - not to mention I always gravitated towards ostracized characters with weird looks (i'm a werewolf girlie, what can i say). I didn't realise then, that he was catholic, like me. But once I learned it I felt warmer inside. And the way he was potrayed, really spoke to me, he was my way of beeing a christian, he had the values my family and me tried to live by. I even based some parts of my sona look on him, subconciously. It felt really important for me to see a non-preachy and not demonized potrayal of a catholic character. As usually we are potrayed in the Western media as the bigots, not parts of the opressed minorities (and if so, then the characters are susually written to abandon their "toxic" enviroment and faith as their arc of accepting themselves and "freeing" themselves. Never to learn that God loves all his kids, like Kurt believes in) And as you said, the divercity of thought, something so oftenly abandoned in the media today (unless its about us VS them, villains VS heroes of course). The people who can't write him and his faith are just people who don't understand it (like the Pope thing xD) but THINK they do, especially if they melt all christianity into one in their heads, having American protestants as their main point of refference.
A catholic with a sona? Relatable. Kurt is an inspiration, to reinforce the lighter side of our church. I've seen many different chapels as a member of the military, different congregations with different focuses. People take the perception of the stern, judgy catholic from many places in life. From me most definitely when I get on them about pirating movies, going to strip clubs, defying good order, basic discipline etc. But Kurt is the lighter side, and he does what I had ought to do when faced with the opposing opinion. When Storm advocates for reliance upon anger, he presents the Lord's alternative with judgement, despair. Normally in my interactions, I discourage bad practice instead of offering alternative. Kurt brings the good news and the good news alone, and I aspire to bring my faith to be like his. Also I love how he has the in depth angelic symbols on him.
I've only recently gotten into X-Men Evolution, and their version of Kurt has quickly become one of my favorites. Being told "In this version, Scott and Kurt are best friends getting into shenanigans" was actually one of the reasons I decided to give the show a try. It's golden, they're friendship goals.
Clearly both tails should exist just like a variety of horn sizes and shapes should exist. I want some lithe prehensile tail on the ranger, and a big chonkin counterweight of a tail on the great weapon fighter
To be fair, if they made a movie or story arc in an animated show that focussed on Nightcrawler's childhood and backstory (as most of his character development has already happened there i nthe past), people would inevitably draw comparisons to Hellboy... "devil-baby found by man of faith who brought him up to be kind and protect people". The difference is Hellboy is a brawler type character who uses guns, while Nightcrawler is the lithe, acrobatic "D&D rogue" who can climb walls and bamf into places to infiltrate them and uses rapiers.
If I got to choose a story line for a Nightcrawler solo film I'd have him, Abyss, and Graydon Creed face Reine du Rein and The Truth Demon, forcing Nightcrawler to face the prejudice of humanity in his own family and the horror of unbiased destruction from a true Demon.
@@giyuutomioka6974 Pitch "Nightcrawler's faith is put to test when distant family comes bringing disaster, helping jeopardizes the Mutants Nightcrawler has sworn to protect but rejecting jeopardizes his very soul". I'd cast the X 2 actor as Night Crawler, then cast Doug Jones as Abyss, as for Graydon I'd cast The Wolverine Origins actor who played Sabertooth. As for Reine du Rein I don't know any prominent French actress but someone blond, but can also be intense during action scenes, as for the Truth Tony Todd no questions.
@@giyuutomioka6974 Pom Clémentine? Nooooooo!😂she look nothing like "Reine du rien" wich is a horrible name when you heart in heart it (I am myself french so I can tell you!😂)
30:12 as a straight guy when I was younger I didn’t really pay much attention to Kurt's look in *that* way. Then I read some comics where Rogue absorbed Kurts powers and got his looks and I got why peopled cared about it.
30:13 In my opinion, I think tieflings should have the option for either type of tail. I think the more common option would be to have a thicker tail, but who’s to say that different lineages shouldn’t have different characteristics!
A thicker tail, like the Tieflings had in D&D 4E which made them look like the Dranaei from World of Warcraft, is anatomically stupid (most artists draw that tail sticking out at 90° angle to the spine and/or emerging from the buttocks) and really really impractical (how do you even sit down?? how do you go to the toilet with a tail the thickness of your thigh?). And the thicker the tail, the less prehensile will it actually be because it can't bend properly!
I have been a nightcrawler fan since i was a kid. The only thing I love more than Nightcrawler is seeing/meeting fellow Crawlies! This video is a great documentation and character exploration of "My favorite X-man".
X-Men: Evolution getting some love (I personally think that one should have gotten a revival versus the old animated series, but oh well). All the characters are so well done. Scott actually being a leader and being a character who can stand up to people, but genuinely struggles with his ability and upholding Charles Dream. Rouge actually does stuff in the show and uses her powers, way more interesting. I dont mind her powers in the animated series. But Nightcrawler isnt that religious. Its not used that much in the cartoons other than the first X-Men series.
You know what I think would be beautiful? Your idea for a love interest but when Kurt reveals himself as a mutant, they reveal they've known. Saw them on TV or in person and recognized them. They've known, and still choose to be with him. That or pair him with Logan, I mean they've screwed in the comics before... :p
I'd argue Azazel with his bright red skin, forked tail and claw-like fingernails and black goatee looks far more than a stereotypical "devil" than Kurt/Nightcrawler (who is blue and furry). And I'd argue two X-Men mutants who are even worse off in terms of being visibly mutated are Robert Herman/Glob, whose only power is transparents skin and flesh (so you see his eyeballs, skeleton and inner organs floating inside an overweight body like in transparent jelly, and similarly Hector Rendoza/Wraith whose sole "power" is transparent skin so he walks around looking like a flayed corpse (and should be blind because he can't protect his eyeballs from the sun!). At least Nightcrawler is kinda fluffy and cute.
Just found your channel through your Sailor Moon video and was super excited to see this video! I really like your point about his birth being a miracle. I agree that’s a lot stronger thematically than you know him being a literal demon. I hope we get a good Nightcrawler adaptation in Live Action and we get to see more of him in 97.
LOVED this deep dive. My only real exposure to Nightcrawler was through X2. He was my favorite part of the movie. I was moved by the sincere faith, love, and acceptance that he exhibited. In a series that is fundamentally anti-bigotry, it is wonderful to see a character who demonstrates a gracious and tolerant worldview rooted in genuine faith. It’s a nice counterpoint to the ugliness of warped, weaponized faith that we see all too often in fiction and in our own world. Love you, Nightcrawler. 💙
X-men 97 Kurt is near perfect. I have been collecting his comics, cartoons and other stuff for years and I love just about every version of him. Austen really hated the religious elements and wanted to get rid of them so he did what he did. I even didn't hate Azazel as his dad. The movie movie version really sold me on him, but the new retcon is such an annoyingly backbend and a wrench in so many previous stories I don't really care for it. I don't care for trying to Harley-quinnize Mystique either. She's not a tragic character she was the master of her own villainy. She owned up to what she did to her kids. Not to mention making Destiny young and attractive to make it palatable. I know people point to Clarmont saying that once--somewhere, but his actual creator Dave Cockrum said he wanted Nightmare as his father but he never gets as much recognition for his contributions to comics. He's had other girlfriends but he suffers from the same problem most characters do. Unless they are the "couple" or "the Married ones" they are likely shuffling around love interests. Each writer using him as a proxy to write in their ideal woman. I'd go with Storm, but she's great with about anyone, or Evolution's "Kurtty."
Honestly, my only gripe, as a man of faith, withX-Men ‘97 Kurt is his one line to Remy: “Love cannot exist without sin, for love is best measured by what we are willing to forgive.” I get the idea behind the line, but the opening of the line comes across as kinda clunky from him to me? The rest of his portrayal was pretty fabulous.
32 minutes talking about my favorite Marvel character ever? Yes please. I really hope with the X-Men being brought back into the public eye he gets used in more projects, especially as a kid who grew up on X-Men Evolution and was obsessed with Kurt, only to learn that his existence in other mainstream X-Men media, aside from the comics, made him hardly the focus of anything. To be honest, he’s the reason I’ve begun collecting vintage comics, as I’ve recently been able to get my hands on a couple original issues of Excalibur. I think the only other character that I’ve ever been so fixated on before is the Riddler, literally any iteration of that guy has me hooked.
15:40 When you summarize the comic of when Azazel tries to take over Heaven and Nightcrawler can no longer go into Heaven so that Azazsl can't take over it, it sounds silly. 1) God is all powerful. He doesn't even need to get Azazsl out of Heaven himself. He would send his angels, like St. Micheal, to kick him out just like how they did with the fallen angels, Nightcrawler should have known that. 2) Nightcrawler would know by reading the Scriptures that God would allow him and be able to not allow Azazel because Azazel is not as powerful as God, God would just disconnect that connection with both of them. 3) Going with the second one, God wouldn't test Nightcrawler when he's already in Heave. That was already done here Earth. He doesn't need to test himself again. I'm not disrespecting you, but that comic sounds wack, doesn't make sense in Catholic Christianity, of how Heaven works, how they make God weak in the comics, and how God still "test" someone when they already passed the "test".
It’s kind of a weird space with how the comics world has been set up, especially with all the other deities and entities existing as well. Iirc, in the mid 2000s there was even a Ghost Rider storyline where there was a demon assault on Heaven and..I believe multiple Riders had to band together to push them back (when they initially retconned the demon angle to the Spirit of Vengeance as a piece of God’s holy wrath bound to a mortal…before retconning it again later and all the mortal halves of the Ghost Riders go to Hell after they die….). That and the mutants having “resurrection” that is really more cloning and it’s like.. what happened to the souls of the original ones? Is the Nightcrawler of the Krakoan era after Way of X a different one? (Though, could be from even earlier because I vaguely remember the first panel revealing the resurrection showing Nightcrawler among the raised?) Comics are kinda weird in that realm when it comes to religions and what all exists, and the effects that then follow from that.
your point about kurt having little character development in the later x-trilogy made me realize, the x-movies as a whole were just really bad about that. kurt, hank, rogue, ororo, raven, jean, scott. even erik, despite being a top three character, didn't develop so much as swing wildly on the moral pendulum.
Me too 🤩💙🤜🤛. Nightcrawler is both my favorite X-men and Hero and all of Marvel: Sympathizing was his plight & Faith, like his personality, and most of all love his powers of Teleportation!
As to Kurt's new retconned origin---I have consistently collected X-Men in years, and while I don't hate it, I kind of feel it just continues to complicate his origins. I get how the bit where Mystique--I don't know, "held on" to Azazel's "genetic material"?--and impregnated Destiny, can be used thematically, and it's definitely not worse than "his daddy's a demon", but, eh, I'm partial to him being the abandoned child of a German count that was raised in the circus.
Awesome video! On the Catholic belief in the Harrowing of Hell: it's not that Christ went to Hell to redeem all the condemned. The condemned stay condemned. But before his death, the gates of Heaven were closed, and all those who died deserving to go to Heaven were stuck outside (early authors held that they were waiting in the "highest" regions of Hell, while today most hold that they were in Limbo--a distinct place from Hell in that souls aren't tortured there). So, after his death on the cross, Christ went to "Hell," or Limbo, to redeem all the righteous souls and bring them to Heaven.
I will comment again after I've watched the video. I just wanted to say that Nightcrawler was always my favorite of the X-Men. I am excited to see what you say about him here, because I have only seen one of your other videos and was not very happy with it. I always believe in second chances (and third for some) so I am really interested to see your perspective. Wether you like Kurt or not, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Ok, video start!
Nightcrawler is hands down my favorite marvel character!! X men evolution, the first mini series by co creator Dave Crockrum, the winding way, uncanny spiderman are my favorite version of his characterization. I can't wait to see him pop up in the MCU and awesome video!!
I remember when they didn't lean as heavily into his catholicism, and I worry that it's too focused, making a very rich character one note. I liked him in Excalibur when he got to be a rather reluctant leader. I like when he's a fun loving swashbuckler. I like when he's the heart of the X men. Many of these tie in with his faith, but he's not some preaching monk
I feel like Nightcrawler has the best design out of all the X-Men, but that might just be my own preference. Tri-wielding swords all the way! I wanted to have a prehensile tail even when I was little.
I think Kurt really needs to be a leading man. He doesn't often get the chance to be a main character in a group like the X-Men. And it seems like he can be a little underdeveloped because of it. Consistently playing the comforter to the team doesn't leave a lot of time to look at what Kurt has going on. I just hope they don't lean too hard into the religious themes or any potential demonic plot elements- a lot of people will just boil Kurt down to these points. Kurt should be a man of faith, but the key word here is man. Leaning too much into the Christ allegory can make for some very shallow characterization. Also- thank you for acknowledging Amanda from X-Men evolution. She was my first exposure to the character and it was so weird learning that she's nothing like that in the comics, and that she's supposed to be Kurt's sister. Evolution Amanda was great- sweet but not a push over, a staunch mutant supporter, loved Kurt for who he was, and wasn't a snitch.
This is entirely unrelated to the video, but no matter how dumb and objectively bad X3 is I will forever hold that golden gate bridge sequence with magneto to be sick as fuck
I feel like they need to throw Nightcrawler and Wolfsbane on the X-Men at the same time, given their polar opposite histories with Christianity, while having Reverend Striker be one of the villains. Imo it would be a great opportunity to explore the themes brought up in this video and things like religious trauma, with Striker confirming Rahne's impression of Christianity from her dad & Kurt acting as the exact opposite.
My only caveat for the Counter balance is that it has to be like the boys S4 where they say "WE SAY THE FAR RIGHT IS BAD!" Because lots of Catholics look at kurt in then the animated series and go "They pray just like me 😇" And then support far right people.
"Tiefling-coded mutant" he says about a character who existed before the concept of tieflings. It's OK, you made a nice recovery with the rest of your video.
VERY good and detailed video! Kurt is one of my favorites , too . Alan Cumming (s) did a GREAT job as him! I love him in Excalibur . Did you ever read that miniseries with him from the 1980’s?
Nightcrawler had a limited series in 1985 by Dave Cockrum, which is an entertaining and funny reading, imho. But I don't know if it really counts to determine if Kurt works as a protagonist, since it's basically a filler and doesn't have any relevance in the great scheme of X-Men lore, as far as I know.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
People keep writing Kurt out of his Catholic origins which is kinda insane considering that’s what makes him so much more interesting
They do that with everyone 😭😭😭 the Maximoffs, Moon Knight, etc. no ones allowed to be anything but politely Christian
@@isseppej Moon Knight is Jewish bruh
I miss Christian character or characters with Christian attributes in superhero genres
They do this with Harley Quinn’s Judaism too, so irritating when faith/religious upbringing can give a character such interesting complexities.
Yeah, the erasure of religion from media is weird.
Even in Call of Duty, in the first game, Woods, a friend of the main protag, says,",God bless you" to someone and I even saw a comment saying that in one part Bowman, another friend of the protag's, was praying.
One thing I love about Kurt is his friendship with Kitty Pryde. On paper, The two are completely different in terms of personality with Kurt being more fun loving and easygoing compared to Kitty. Yet the two act as emotional outlets for each other and are willing to lend a shoulder to cry on for each other.
I think their friendship is perhaps one of the strongest Male-female friendships I’ve seen that doesn’t turn into a romantic relationship.
Marvel: that doesn’t turn into a romantic relationship...yet.
@@mray4784 they better not….unless it’s js for like 2 comics or js a really short relationship cause they wouldn’t work very well romantically imo.
@@00pium_kingvampstan With how devout Kurt is to his faith and how tied to Judaism Kitty is in the comics it's not a relationship that could ever last long if we go by Catholic dogma as marriage requires either Kitty to convert or Kurt to become an apostate. Not that Marvel likes marriage....however in Catholicism, even the liberal version Kurt has, marriage is the end goal. Especially with someone as family focused as Kurt.
The friend group of those two, Logan and Piotr just… gives me life. Only one pairing is actually ever romantic, Kitty has two platonic guy friends with whom she’s got great dynamics, Kurt gets on with everyone in general… Great stuff.
Nothing is truly sacred because writers gonna writer… but we can just mentally detach anything that’s crap. Like that concept, or Kurt being part-demon, or… freaking everything about Zeb Wells’ current Spidey run.
What I like about xmen is the diversity of thought
Kurt: catholic perspective
Kitty: youth perspective
Colossus: immigrant perspective
Wolverine: the rebel perspective
Beast: scientists perspective
Isn't Kitty always gay too?
@@falconeshield no her and Colossus were a couple for a long while back in the 80s, she date iceman in the 2000s and even star lord in the 2010s. She was always Jewish though, and go figure that her and Kurt were like siblings
I think Wolverine is the trauma perspective. From all the wars, physical damage, loss, and when he loses his agency. Also, he has lived a long time and that means he has two lifetimes of experiences adding to the trauma.
@@ravensane2823could be both too. or that because of his ptsd he’s more rebellious?
And people still complain about X-Men becoming "woke"....
Like, you must be new here
Not gonna lie, Kurt being a Spider-Man... I absolutely love. When Pete checked in on him, I half expected him getting an honorary webshooter
It's time that people finally realize how good Evolution actually was.
Watching it right now for the first time and it’s fantastic. I just started season 3 and I wish the school episodes had a bit more of a focus, the slice of life episodes were fun. Also, Xavier is a great mentor figure throughout the show.
Crazy you say that, I’m rewatching it right now. Currently on season 2 episode 1.
The intro music is too fking good 🎸
I also started to see the series some weeks ago and I only got 3 episodes left!! Great series and I agree, I think some of the best moments of the series come from the school activities
@@_davidboxing The first 10 seconds of the intro never fail to get me hype
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I grew up with X-men Evolution and thus Kurt and Kitty are my favorite X-men.
Me personally, I actually watched X2 before and I also saw wolverine and the X-men and man, I was loving nightcrawler.
Gambit is my favorite, but man he was barely in anything other than the 90s show, but I was practically obsessed with nightcrawler. Hes so lovable and my original favorite despite a lot of wolverine.
the Fuzzy Guy!
I adore him
@@giyuutomioka6974 Gambit had great moments in X-Men ‘97 this year!
@@chickadeestevenson5440 we love our fuzzy elf.
Gambit was in the Wolverine :Origins movie.
Sometimes when watching media I am ashamed to be catholic due to them often portraying it through obsessed fanatical villains. I am in no way saying that people like that don’t exist but it has almost become a cliche at this point. Seeing your video gave me a newfound love and respect for Nightcrawler, a character that I’ve never really been into, and now I want to read his stories to learn more about him. I think the way you described religion as a means more for self-reflection is the perfect way people should use it. Love the videos keep it up!
I agree and it happens so often that it's become a boring overdone trope. I'd like for them to just portray Catholics as normal people, since that's what almost all of them are. That would actually be something different.
I loved Kurt's Catholicism, it's probably a huge part of why I love the character, including his introduction in tas where he is so unapologetically Christian. It really made me happy to see it, as someone similarly tired of the evil religious guy or religious victim trope
I prefer mutants who can't blend in because it feels like it takes more of a actual effort to relate to someone different
This feels like a main reason why synth android stories struggle often
There’s this mini comic I love.
Wolverine, Jean and all of the normal looking X-Men are all like “being a mutant is so hard.”
And Beast, Blob and Nightcrawler are like:
@@finn_mac_ribs i love that one
I think one of the great things about Kurt is that he's a character who has already gone through his arc, this makes him great at supporting others in their arcs but it does make it really hard to have a story centred around him without backtracking his development.
That being said, having a story of a younger Nightcrawler before all of his development would work really well as we see with Evolution.
It's 100% not a reach at all to say people find Nightcrawler attractive as is. He has had legions of fangirls since day one and has been a formative fictional crush for a lot of people who grew up watching the movies. The amount of x readers and demand for Nightcrawler content? It is not crazy to think somebody would like him Nightcrawler IS hot and handsome. And he's kind, angsty and just such a good man. We adore him so much (I've written so much) he deserves a love interest!!!!
Nightcrawler has "dated" so many women especially during his Excalibur days
He's implied to be very attractive.
@@ZamWeazle Alan Davis's Nightcrawler especially.
@@ZamWeazleis it an implication if he just like…is?
@@creed8712 I meant perception
I might be a straight guy, but I think everyone can agree that my favourite mutant looks way hotter without the holographic disguise
Sounds a little gay bro
He did say "might",@@thecaps7944
As a gay guy, I agree.
He's certainly not a generic hottie. There's something to be said for visual distinctiveness.
The most unrealistic part of She-Hulk was no one wanted to date her lol. Obviously someone would give Kurt a go. Also tieflings should have tails like nightcrawler.
I have a feeling its because most men would become insecure around she hulk because she'd contrast with their style of masculinity. Of course, daredevil doesn't mind though.
Me personally, I probably wouldn't mind she hulk. And I usually prefer girls shorter than me.
Cambions.
Well, she is She-Hulk, and most men would be scared of dating another masculine figure.
I mean, when Beast was an avenger he was pretty popular with girls (I don't know if it's a thing even outside that run), so I guess it would not be strange at all if someone was interested in Kurt.
@@00pium_kingvampstan Trust me, if She-Hulk was real, there would be no shortage of men out there lined up to shoot their shot for Jade Mommy.
Nightcrawler had a relationship with the Scarlet Witch in Wolverine and the X-men. I actually really liked that storyline. I'm glad he is a priest in the new show. There are enough relationships on that shows.
The cartoon or the comic?
@@matthewschwartz6607 The cartoon
In the comic he has his faith but he's pretty far from a priest anymore. If anything he a charming ladies man who doesn't shy away from a fight.
Lol
.
@@BloodyMary74 The "new" show is merely a continuation of the 90s X-men cartoon. X-men TAS had Nightcrawler as a priest in its original run, that's why he's one in the new series.
X-Men Evolution is underrated compared to the 90s animated show, and we should honestly talk about it more.
Certainly better than Wolverine and the X-Men.
Rewatching it right now and I’m on season 2 episode 1.
It's been 24 years about time it gets appreciated like the Ghostbusters cartoon with the new cast everyone forgets
@@_davidboxingI agree. It's way better than Wolverine and Xmen. Xmen Evolution is such a refreshing take on the Xmen. Love the way they treated Cyclops. And made Logan a mentor figure to the Xmen instead of having him be part of a love triangle.
Nightcrawler is also my favourite X-Men and such a pure soul and incredibly likeable character, especially since I loved him X-Men Evolution, the 90's show and in the recent X-Men 97 series. I really cant see how anyone could hate him or dislike the character. Nightcrawler truly embodies everything the X-Men are fighting for and is the heart and soul of the X-Men as despite looking like a demon from Hell and no one would blame him if he hated humanity, but no he doesn't hate the people who hated him, he is more enlightened and human than most human beings. He uses his faith and guidance with the X-Men to learn that hatred will never allow him to be happy and rather he uses his faith in Christianity as a earnest guiding light in helping the people who despised him, even though he doesn't have to. I also love how Nightcrawler's faith isnt toxic as Kurt knows that a true man of God would not persecute others that dont believe what he believes as that would make him as bad as the people that saw him as a monster and only shares his beliefs and values only when truly needed in order to help those who seek it and he doesn't forcibly try to push his religion onto others, he just lives his life helping others. I also ADORE his dynamic with other characters like his special friendship with Wolverine, his adorable friendship and bond with Kitty Pryde as a big brother to her, and especially his wholesome unconditional love for Rogue as his adopted sister.
What else can I say... I ADORE Nightcrawler😈✝️❤☺️
Kurt while has his faith certainly isn't super pure or a pious type of person. Let's not forget that he's a charming ladies man, having dated as many women as Warren, Hank or pre Rogue Remi.
Not only that but when he was in the afterlife/heaven he became bored because there was no fighting there. Lol
Just saying 😉👍
Nightcrawler solo movie, Nightcrawler vs his father Azazel meets his brothers with similar powers. A Catholic allegory a then he verses his devil father it’ll be poetic. 10/10 would watch
Luckily for you, Kurt was also one of my childhood crushes (more specifically, the X-Men Evolution one) and I still love it when he appears on-screen!
I’m not practicing anymore, but growing up in the church there were some streams of thought in the Church where Kurt would have felt very much at home. He’d definitely be either a Salesian or a Franciscan.
If they go back to having the Xavier school, I always thought it would make sense for him to be the humanities teacher. I feel like those kids’ educations are very STEM heavy lol.
I assume the sad reality of the Xavier school is basically most of those kids end up as heroes for hire of sorts or in some sort of field like that. The ones after it especially the one Scott ran i think just trained child soldiers
To clerify, it’s not a retcon mistique being his father was origionally the idea when it was introduced, but the author chris clairmont wasn’t allowed to do it since the heads of marvel comics at the time didn’t allow it.
I mean…that’s still a retcon just one long in the making especially when we saw how he was born previously
Nightcrawler: The original user of Three Sword Style!😁😎
X-Men 97 when he pulled it out and told Logan no mi feind nine and they went back to back badass
I remember he used swords in that awesome Ultimate Alliance cutscene
I've always loved Nightcrawler, and I will ALWAYS click on a video essay about him. I think the reason I like him so much is how much I can relate to him. While Im not religious, other aspects really resonate with me. His cheery disposition, always willing to be a friend for someone in need, despite all of the messed up things that have occurred in his life, is exactly how I try to live my life. He's seen some of the worst things people can do to others, yet doesnt let him affect his outook on life, which I find to be incredibly respectable. Anyways, I just love the character so much, glad to see some Kurt appreciation
My favorite Nightcrawler origin is with Mystique and Azazel as his parents. Always just made perfect sense to me. And makes me enjoy those other two characters more in turn, having them related one of my favorite mutants. Especially in the stories like X Men Animated/97 where Mystique adopted Rogue.
Great video. Also, interesting fact about X2, it’s a loose adaptation of the X Men storyline, “God Loves, Man Kills.”
I don’t understand WHY Magneto tried to kill everyone in the movie! That seemed a bit extreme for him, no? And weren’t him and Charles friends?
Nightcrawler was actually my original favorite character. Of course, gambit is my favorite, but i really still love Nightcrawler.
Ill even list a few reasons why.
1. Hes so friendly and cheerful. I love how hes immediately energetic upon arrival in genosha when rogue and gambit arrive. Hes so lovable!
2. Hes blue and blue is a favorite color of mine. On top of that, i love his outfit. Its simple yet stylish. Id wear it.
3. His teleportation ability made me fascinated with him.
4. Despite myself being atheist, him being catholic, similar to daredevil who's also one of my favorites, Nightcrawler doesnt make religion an upfront part of his character. Its tiring when I see people devote their life to religion, i understand they probably either grew up that way or chose that life, but they dont seem like they can really relax without feeling like they broke a religion related rule or something. Nightcrawler however, its a small side thing for him. Sure hes still religious, but he doesnt make it a big deal which i honestly appreciate. It's the same case for daredevil, even though i stopped being religous, im still fascinated by catholicism since im a former Christian but i still love their character.
5. Nightcrawler is a charming character. I was introduced to him in X2 and his character in wolverine and the X-men made him so endearing! I mean, he carries himself with flair and charisma and hes also super loving and caring for others and want people treated fairly since his past in Germany, people rioted against him just for not looking human. I kinda resonate with him as i was always treated differently since i had learning troubles with ADHD and i was bullied a lot, but nightcrawler is so cool regardless.
Nightcrawler’s one of my favorite X Men. Top 5, for sure. Maybe Top 3, even. Point is he’s a monk, but a gangsta monk.
@@Brotherofthe4thCompany well kinda more of pope for those who are catholic.
Ngl, characters like daredevil and nightcrawler make me interested in catholicism as a former Christian.
@@giyuutomioka6974 I’m a Christian, but I like Nightcrawler in spite of that fact.
@@Brotherofthe4thCompany well I'm atheist.
I thought Daredevil always make a big deal on his Catholic belief
Nightcrawler is my absolute favorite superhero. I think of him often when struggling with my self worth
okay, hear me out. . .
heard 🙂↕️
Don't need to, already there.
You don't need to say a damn word. We're all thinking the same thing. Look at him. He's perfect.
@@fragile4408I don’t get it 😅 Captain?
Seconded, heard , written down, and noted. He is 🔥 and I am tired of pretending he is not
RAAAAAH NIGHTCRAWLER BEING ACKNOWLEDGED FOR HOW GREAT HE IS🦅🦅‼️‼️💯
He's been my favorite since I was a kid and he's so underrated to me, so im glad to see a video where someone says exactly what I've been thinking 💙
I love Nightcrawler in Alan Davis's Excalibur! He's so much fun and such a contrast to Captain Britain whose so serious and uptight compared to him.
There's a reason Meggan was questioning herself in those early issues. Brian was dealing with his drinking problem, and wasn't the best partner at times, whereas Kurt is so much more playful and fun, and he's an unrepentant flirt, even if it's (mostly) innocent on his part. He and Brian play off of each other so well, just like Meggan and Kitty do.
Nightcrawler is just one of the purest best characters in Marvel, he just fits anywhere with anyone. I wish he was used more in mainstream Marvel media and adaptations.
i grew up with religious trauma, and it’s pretty ironic how he turned out to be my favorite character. He was the first outlet i had to positive views on religion growing up. that i didn’t have to fear ending up going to hell just for putting salt on my plate. I love Kurt ☹️🤍
X-Men Evolution is underrated (because of the whole "turn 2/3rd of the cast into highschool teens" schtick, I guess), and it's Age of Apocalypse storyline was honestly amazing and much better than the boring appearance of Apocalypse in the X-Men live action movies.
My family had 2 episodes of the OG cartoon on CD when i was young, and the episodes we got were Nightcrawler's orgin and one focused on Gambit. They're been my favorite X-Men ever since.
> X-Men: Evolution brilliantly showcases Nightcrawler’s character and necessity on the team.
> J.Law’s Mystique couldn’t be separated from Katniss, which handicapped any nuanced exploration of her morality.
> SUPERMAN IS A MOSES ALLEGORY.
>Tiefling Kurt is a hottie.
Just a sample of the numerous great points you made in this one video haha, so happy to have found your channel 😁!
Mystique doesnt have any nuance she is as redeemable as it gets
Kurt's main character material. Always has been. And in regards to thicclings or thinling tails. I think Both works, and in regards to D&D, I think Demon-tieflings would be more likely to be thicc, and the Devil-descended tieflings more likely to be thin-dextrous-tailed.
As a Mexican X Men fan, I really love thos character.
I was looking for a comment like this lol
One of the best decisions Marvel made was to put Kurt over in Excalibur. He had a chance to shine among the ensemble in the early years, then he became team leader (after having failed miserably at it in the main book, to the point that Kitty was effectively team leader at 14) and did an amazing job at keeping the team together and focused, especially by backing Moira's play to keep them out of the Onslaught situation, because Excalibur might end up the last team standing and have to take on more than just the British Isles and western Europe. His relationships with his mothers is fascinating, each in a different way. I'm just now catching up on Fall of X, and seeing his interactions with Destiny.... It's hard not to cry reading through that arc.
I loved that x-men 97 finally put him on the team at the end. I loved how they used him
Based on what happened at the end of the first Nightcrawler episode in tams, Gambit follows the philosophy of Albert camus, especially when he says, "We on our own in this world. Life is random." Would love to see them engage in discussions on faith/philosophy.
X-Men Evolution was my jam.
Nightcrawler was my favorite character
The twist is the Venom video is actually a video on Sandman.
I just read through powers and house of x and the scene where logan and nightcrawler both know that they'll have to sacrifice their lifes. Logan asks nightcrawler if there's anything for him on the other side and nightcrawler responds saying "when you wake from this earthly slumber, my friend. Look for me. Ill be there waiting for you radiant with open arm." That shit hit different and instantly jumped nightcrawler up on the chad tier list
Kurt was always my favourite X-Men, ever since I watched the cartoons as a kid. I loved his personality and look - not to mention I always gravitated towards ostracized characters with weird looks (i'm a werewolf girlie, what can i say). I didn't realise then, that he was catholic, like me. But once I learned it I felt warmer inside. And the way he was potrayed, really spoke to me, he was my way of beeing a christian, he had the values my family and me tried to live by. I even based some parts of my sona look on him, subconciously. It felt really important for me to see a non-preachy and not demonized potrayal of a catholic character. As usually we are potrayed in the Western media as the bigots, not parts of the opressed minorities (and if so, then the characters are susually written to abandon their "toxic" enviroment and faith as their arc of accepting themselves and "freeing" themselves. Never to learn that God loves all his kids, like Kurt believes in) And as you said, the divercity of thought, something so oftenly abandoned in the media today (unless its about us VS them, villains VS heroes of course). The people who can't write him and his faith are just people who don't understand it (like the Pope thing xD) but THINK they do, especially if they melt all christianity into one in their heads, having American protestants as their main point of refference.
Catholic here too. If I could like this comment twice, I would!
A catholic with a sona? Relatable.
Kurt is an inspiration, to reinforce the lighter side of our church. I've seen many different chapels as a member of the military, different congregations with different focuses. People take the perception of the stern, judgy catholic from many places in life. From me most definitely when I get on them about pirating movies, going to strip clubs, defying good order, basic discipline etc. But Kurt is the lighter side, and he does what I had ought to do when faced with the opposing opinion. When Storm advocates for reliance upon anger, he presents the Lord's alternative with judgement, despair. Normally in my interactions, I discourage bad practice instead of offering alternative. Kurt brings the good news and the good news alone, and I aspire to bring my faith to be like his.
Also I love how he has the in depth angelic symbols on him.
Before x-men the church give him a home and a reason to live.
I've only recently gotten into X-Men Evolution, and their version of Kurt has quickly become one of my favorites. Being told "In this version, Scott and Kurt are best friends getting into shenanigans" was actually one of the reasons I decided to give the show a try. It's golden, they're friendship goals.
Clearly both tails should exist just like a variety of horn sizes and shapes should exist. I want some lithe prehensile tail on the ranger, and a big chonkin counterweight of a tail on the great weapon fighter
I agree, give our tieflings variety!
To be fair, if they made a movie or story arc in an animated show that focussed on Nightcrawler's childhood and backstory (as most of his character development has already happened there i nthe past), people would inevitably draw comparisons to Hellboy... "devil-baby found by man of faith who brought him up to be kind and protect people". The difference is Hellboy is a brawler type character who uses guns, while Nightcrawler is the lithe, acrobatic "D&D rogue" who can climb walls and bamf into places to infiltrate them and uses rapiers.
X-men evolution really made me love nightcrawler
This video is made with tremendous care and research and love for the source material
I wish x2 was made by a good person :(
Wdym?
@@_davidboxing director has that weinstien in him
Learn to separate the work from its producer, it will make your time of entertainment easier.
On the plus side it was written by Solid Snake's voice actor, which is fun
@@agentchen6788When these guys are everywhere it be one hard to care for the industry
They could never make me hate you, Kurt.
If I got to choose a story line for a Nightcrawler solo film I'd have him, Abyss, and Graydon Creed face Reine du Rein and The Truth Demon, forcing Nightcrawler to face the prejudice of humanity in his own family and the horror of unbiased destruction from a true Demon.
That I'd love to see. Hm what would be your pitch for the movie and who would you cast?
@@giyuutomioka6974 Pitch "Nightcrawler's faith is put to test when distant family comes bringing disaster, helping jeopardizes the Mutants Nightcrawler has sworn to protect but rejecting jeopardizes his very soul". I'd cast the X 2 actor as Night Crawler, then cast Doug Jones as Abyss, as for Graydon I'd cast The Wolverine Origins actor who played Sabertooth. As for Reine du Rein I don't know any prominent French actress but someone blond, but can also be intense during action scenes, as for the Truth Tony Todd no questions.
@@sternritternovad hm Liev shrieber, Alan Cumming, and Maybe for a blonde French actress, pom klementief? She's the mcu actress for mantis.
@@giyuutomioka6974 Pom Clémentine? Nooooooo!😂she look nothing like "Reine du rien" wich is a horrible name when you heart in heart it (I am myself french so I can tell you!😂)
@@axelthouin4389 well idk what she looks like.
How about elodie young? The daredevil actress for elektra?
30:12 as a straight guy when I was younger I didn’t really pay much attention to Kurt's look in *that* way. Then I read some comics where Rogue absorbed Kurts powers and got his looks and I got why peopled cared about it.
Night crawler needs his own movie
30:13 In my opinion, I think tieflings should have the option for either type of tail. I think the more common option would be to have a thicker tail, but who’s to say that different lineages shouldn’t have different characteristics!
A thicker tail, like the Tieflings had in D&D 4E which made them look like the Dranaei from World of Warcraft, is anatomically stupid (most artists draw that tail sticking out at 90° angle to the spine and/or emerging from the buttocks) and really really impractical (how do you even sit down?? how do you go to the toilet with a tail the thickness of your thigh?). And the thicker the tail, the less prehensile will it actually be because it can't bend properly!
I have been a nightcrawler fan since i was a kid. The only thing I love more than Nightcrawler is seeing/meeting fellow Crawlies!
This video is a great documentation and character exploration of "My favorite X-man".
X-Men: Evolution getting some love (I personally think that one should have gotten a revival versus the old animated series, but oh well). All the characters are so well done. Scott actually being a leader and being a character who can stand up to people, but genuinely struggles with his ability and upholding Charles Dream. Rouge actually does stuff in the show and uses her powers, way more interesting. I dont mind her powers in the animated series. But Nightcrawler isnt that religious. Its not used that much in the cartoons other than the first X-Men series.
You know what I think would be beautiful? Your idea for a love interest but when Kurt reveals himself as a mutant, they reveal they've known. Saw them on TV or in person and recognized them. They've known, and still choose to be with him.
That or pair him with Logan, I mean they've screwed in the comics before... :p
I'd argue Azazel with his bright red skin, forked tail and claw-like fingernails and black goatee looks far more than a stereotypical "devil" than Kurt/Nightcrawler (who is blue and furry). And I'd argue two X-Men mutants who are even worse off in terms of being visibly mutated are Robert Herman/Glob, whose only power is transparents skin and flesh (so you see his eyeballs, skeleton and inner organs floating inside an overweight body like in transparent jelly, and similarly Hector Rendoza/Wraith whose sole "power" is transparent skin so he walks around looking like a flayed corpse (and should be blind because he can't protect his eyeballs from the sun!).
At least Nightcrawler is kinda fluffy and cute.
Nightcrawler has been my favorite member of the X-Men since I was a kid. So glad I'm finally seeing others who adore him too
JUSTICE FOR KURT. He was always my favorite X-men as a kid.... along with Storm.
Just found your channel through your Sailor Moon video and was super excited to see this video! I really like your point about his birth being a miracle. I agree that’s a lot stronger thematically than you know him being a literal demon. I hope we get a good Nightcrawler adaptation in Live Action and we get to see more of him in 97.
LOVED this deep dive. My only real exposure to Nightcrawler was through X2. He was my favorite part of the movie. I was moved by the sincere faith, love, and acceptance that he exhibited. In a series that is fundamentally anti-bigotry, it is wonderful to see a character who demonstrates a gracious and tolerant worldview rooted in genuine faith. It’s a nice counterpoint to the ugliness of warped, weaponized faith that we see all too often in fiction and in our own world. Love you, Nightcrawler. 💙
X-men 97 Kurt is near perfect. I have been collecting his comics, cartoons and other stuff for years and I love just about every version of him. Austen really hated the religious elements and wanted to get rid of them so he did what he did. I even didn't hate Azazel as his dad. The movie movie version really sold me on him, but the new retcon is such an annoyingly backbend and a wrench in so many previous stories I don't really care for it. I don't care for trying to Harley-quinnize Mystique either. She's not a tragic character she was the master of her own villainy. She owned up to what she did to her kids. Not to mention making Destiny young and attractive to make it palatable. I know people point to Clarmont saying that once--somewhere, but his actual creator Dave Cockrum said he wanted Nightmare as his father but he never gets as much recognition for his contributions to comics.
He's had other girlfriends but he suffers from the same problem most characters do. Unless they are the "couple" or "the Married ones" they are likely shuffling around love interests. Each writer using him as a proxy to write in their ideal woman. I'd go with Storm, but she's great with about anyone, or Evolution's "Kurtty."
Honestly, my only gripe, as a man of faith, withX-Men ‘97 Kurt is his one line to Remy: “Love cannot exist without sin, for love is best measured by what we are willing to forgive.” I get the idea behind the line, but the opening of the line comes across as kinda clunky from him to me? The rest of his portrayal was pretty fabulous.
Im sick of the harley quinnizing of villains all the time, let some villains be irredeemable and still having depth and getting what they deserve
You're not alone with those thoughts.
@@davidbeer5015 Yup,that didn’t feel like Kurt.
This video is just great! You basically described why Nightcrawler is one of my favorite X-men.
we need them to add a wild card like Gobbler as he hasn't appeared in any media in like 40 years
hes the reason why i got into xmen, hes so interesting (and SO fine) hopefully he gets his own movie someday i love him so much 😭😭
32 minutes talking about my favorite Marvel character ever? Yes please. I really hope with the X-Men being brought back into the public eye he gets used in more projects, especially as a kid who grew up on X-Men Evolution and was obsessed with Kurt, only to learn that his existence in other mainstream X-Men media, aside from the comics, made him hardly the focus of anything. To be honest, he’s the reason I’ve begun collecting vintage comics, as I’ve recently been able to get my hands on a couple original issues of Excalibur. I think the only other character that I’ve ever been so fixated on before is the Riddler, literally any iteration of that guy has me hooked.
15:40
When you summarize the comic of when Azazel tries to take over Heaven and Nightcrawler can no longer go into Heaven so that Azazsl can't take over it, it sounds silly. 1) God is all powerful. He doesn't even need to get Azazsl out of Heaven himself. He would send his angels, like St. Micheal, to kick him out just like how they did with the fallen angels, Nightcrawler should have known that. 2) Nightcrawler would know by reading the Scriptures that God would allow him and be able to not allow Azazel because Azazel is not as powerful as God, God would just disconnect that connection with both of them. 3) Going with the second one, God wouldn't test Nightcrawler when he's already in Heave. That was already done here Earth. He doesn't need to test himself again.
I'm not disrespecting you, but that comic sounds wack, doesn't make sense in Catholic Christianity, of how Heaven works, how they make God weak in the comics, and how God still "test" someone when they already passed the "test".
It’s kind of a weird space with how the comics world has been set up, especially with all the other deities and entities existing as well. Iirc, in the mid 2000s there was even a Ghost Rider storyline where there was a demon assault on Heaven and..I believe multiple Riders had to band together to push them back (when they initially retconned the demon angle to the Spirit of Vengeance as a piece of God’s holy wrath bound to a mortal…before retconning it again later and all the mortal halves of the Ghost Riders go to Hell after they die….). That and the mutants having “resurrection” that is really more cloning and it’s like.. what happened to the souls of the original ones? Is the Nightcrawler of the Krakoan era after Way of X a different one? (Though, could be from even earlier because I vaguely remember the first panel revealing the resurrection showing Nightcrawler among the raised?) Comics are kinda weird in that realm when it comes to religions and what all exists, and the effects that then follow from that.
@@davidbeer5015 true
your point about kurt having little character development in the later x-trilogy made me realize, the x-movies as a whole were just really bad about that. kurt, hank, rogue, ororo, raven, jean, scott. even erik, despite being a top three character, didn't develop so much as swing wildly on the moral pendulum.
Personally I think it works, for Kurt specifically. I kind of like how he just sort of has his shit together.
Imagine Kurt having an on-line girlfriend and once he comes out she comes out too... as a furry xD
Me too 🤩💙🤜🤛. Nightcrawler is both my favorite X-men and Hero and all of Marvel: Sympathizing was his plight & Faith, like his personality, and most of all love his powers of Teleportation!
I just finished another round of watching Evolution, so hearing it get praised was nice timing
Wow, great video! This really made me want to check out Nightcrawler in the comics.
There should be a utilization of the common ground between the Catholic Faith of Nightcrawler and Kitty with the Orthodoxy of Colossus.
You are one of the best video essay people out there
I already love Nightcrawer as a character, but hearing more about him I just love him even more. I really wish more religious people were like him.
Nightcrawler was always my favorite X-man. I identified with his obvious "outsider" nature. Truly an underutilized character.
Thanks for the teaser
In 2020, Simon Kimberg revealed that Azezel is Mystique's father in the movies
Could you give your sources ?
so happy to see a video talking abt a character i love
As to Kurt's new retconned origin---I have consistently collected X-Men in years, and while I don't hate it, I kind of feel it just continues to complicate his origins. I get how the bit where Mystique--I don't know, "held on" to Azazel's "genetic material"?--and impregnated Destiny, can be used thematically, and it's definitely not worse than "his daddy's a demon", but, eh, I'm partial to him being the abandoned child of a German count that was raised in the circus.
i love way of x. it's one of my favorite krakoa storylines. i dont think onslaught is v interesting but i really love kurt dealing with his faith
Dust and Stacy X were great to see in that comic.
I love this Catholic boyo, inspires me to be more positive in my devotion to the church, to God.
Awesome video! On the Catholic belief in the Harrowing of Hell: it's not that Christ went to Hell to redeem all the condemned. The condemned stay condemned. But before his death, the gates of Heaven were closed, and all those who died deserving to go to Heaven were stuck outside (early authors held that they were waiting in the "highest" regions of Hell, while today most hold that they were in Limbo--a distinct place from Hell in that souls aren't tortured there). So, after his death on the cross, Christ went to "Hell," or Limbo, to redeem all the righteous souls and bring them to Heaven.
I will comment again after I've watched the video. I just wanted to say that Nightcrawler was always my favorite of the X-Men. I am excited to see what you say about him here, because I have only seen one of your other videos and was not very happy with it. I always believe in second chances (and third for some) so I am really interested to see your perspective.
Wether you like Kurt or not, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Ok, video start!
Nightcrawler is hands down my favorite marvel character!! X men evolution, the first mini series by co creator Dave Crockrum, the winding way, uncanny spiderman are my favorite version of his characterization. I can't wait to see him pop up in the MCU and awesome video!!
I remember when they didn't lean as heavily into his catholicism, and I worry that it's too focused, making a very rich character one note. I liked him in Excalibur when he got to be a rather reluctant leader. I like when he's a fun loving swashbuckler. I like when he's the heart of the X men. Many of these tie in with his faith, but he's not some preaching monk
I feel like Nightcrawler has the best design out of all the X-Men, but that might just be my own preference. Tri-wielding swords all the way! I wanted to have a prehensile tail even when I was little.
"Your natural blue form will never be deemed beautiful" I have NEVER met someone who wouldn't boink Mystique without hesitation.
I think Kurt really needs to be a leading man. He doesn't often get the chance to be a main character in a group like the X-Men. And it seems like he can be a little underdeveloped because of it. Consistently playing the comforter to the team doesn't leave a lot of time to look at what Kurt has going on. I just hope they don't lean too hard into the religious themes or any potential demonic plot elements- a lot of people will just boil Kurt down to these points. Kurt should be a man of faith, but the key word here is man. Leaning too much into the Christ allegory can make for some very shallow characterization.
Also- thank you for acknowledging Amanda from X-Men evolution. She was my first exposure to the character and it was so weird learning that she's nothing like that in the comics, and that she's supposed to be Kurt's sister. Evolution Amanda was great- sweet but not a push over, a staunch mutant supporter, loved Kurt for who he was, and wasn't a snitch.
Kurt lead the Excalibur team for many years.
He was for the most part front and centre.
This is entirely unrelated to the video, but no matter how dumb and objectively bad X3 is I will forever hold that golden gate bridge sequence with magneto to be sick as fuck
I feel like they need to throw Nightcrawler and Wolfsbane on the X-Men at the same time, given their polar opposite histories with Christianity, while having Reverend Striker be one of the villains. Imo it would be a great opportunity to explore the themes brought up in this video and things like religious trauma, with Striker confirming Rahne's impression of Christianity from her dad & Kurt acting as the exact opposite.
My only caveat for the Counter balance is that it has to be like the boys S4 where they say "WE SAY THE FAR RIGHT IS BAD!" Because lots of Catholics look at kurt in then the animated series and go "They pray just like me 😇" And then support far right people.
11:24 I love this joke even if I'm not sure I entirely understand it
"Tiefling-coded mutant" he says about a character who existed before the concept of tieflings.
It's OK, you made a nice recovery with the rest of your video.
Nightcrawler inspired tieflings to become clerics of light.
More accurate to say tieflings are Nightwalker coded-
Yo Comics explained. Great channel
VERY good and detailed video! Kurt is one of my favorites , too . Alan Cumming (s) did a GREAT job as him! I love him in Excalibur . Did you ever read that miniseries with him from the 1980’s?
Isn’t there a comic tie in to the Fox movies that declared Nightcrawler as the child of Mystique and the Red teleportation guy from First Class
Nightcrawler had a limited series in 1985 by Dave Cockrum, which is an entertaining and funny reading, imho.
But I don't know if it really counts to determine if Kurt works as a protagonist, since it's basically a filler and doesn't have any relevance in the great scheme of X-Men lore, as far as I know.
Oh Yes! X Men Evolutions was my second favorite X Men animated series next to X-Men TAS.
And talk about characters with interesting backstories.