Comic book movies are such a cash cow in the 21st century that there are now sub-genres of superhero movies. (Next up: their own Academy Award category?) Deadpool is the first of its own specific niche, a big-budget, adults-only romp that lets the good guys take a backseat and puts the questionable guy in charge. Scratch that: the most questionable. The buzz on Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds' performance as the sarcastic mercenary is so deafening that a sequel is already in the works, but as for what it'll feature, that's less clear. What'll be the sequel's story? Which villains will make an appearance? Will Cable be in Deadpool 2?
If you don't have a clue who Cable is, don't worry. You didn't miss an X-Men movie. Deadpool and Cable led a popular Marvel comic book series called (what else?) Cable & Deadpool that ran from 2004 to 2008. Cable, depicted in the book as a beefy, white-haired gentleman with a metal arm, had been pinballing around the Marvel universe since 1990, but it was his team up with Deadpool that really put him on the map. Cable is the product of the union between X-Men's Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean Grey). He's a telepathic time traveler; his mission in the Cable & Deadpool books involves stopping catastrophic events that he knew would otherwise occur in the future.
Even though Cable and Deadpool have had lots of separate adventures since the first chapter of their unexpected partnership came to end, fans of the book are dying to see the duo together on screen. (The pairing is still so popular on the page that Marvel launched a new series in October of last year called Deadpool & Cable: Split Second .) In January, Reynolds appeared at a surprise early Deadpool screening and participated in an audience Q&A. According to ComicBook.com, one viewer yelled out, "Cable and Deadpool!" during the discussion and Reynolds gave an encouraging answer: "Your lips to God's ears, my friend. Believe me, that's being talked about."
Deadpool director Tim Miller is also hip to what the fans want, though perhaps he's planning to twist the characters' relationship a bit. "There aren’t really many definitive Deadpool villains, apart from Cable," Miller told Empire . "If we don’t put Cable in Deadpool 2 I think we’ll be run out of town on a rail." Fair enough, though readers of the comics probably wouldn't characterize Cable that way. He and Deadpool certainly have a combative relationship, but doesn't that go for Deadpool and literally anyone?
In the video below, ComicBook.com asks Deadpool co-stars Ryan Reynolds and TJ Miller who they'd cast as Cable if the time came. In true Deadpool fashion, they make a joke of it, suggesting Topher Grace (not exactly the spitting image of Cable), Barbara Walters, and a deceased Canadian television anchor. Perhaps they're being coy because conversations are actually happening. Either that, or everybody's a comedian.
Images: 20th Century Fox
