Deadpool 2 hits theaters in 2018. Mr. Pool is bringing an old friend to the party. That friend is none other than Cable, the time traveling half-cyborg soldier.
If you've read the comics, you know the whole story behind Cable and his mission. We'll save that for another day... Personally, I'm a big fan and fell in love with the character in 90's. I really hope they go to some of those awesome stories in the movies. Cable could easily headline his own X-Force franchise or solo series if they do it right. But, they have to do Cable as well as they did Deadpool.
Follow @SUPERflixMoviesWe've only recently been gifted a sneak peak look at Josh Brolin's Cable. He is a complex character I loved as a kid collecting comics in the big muscle, big gun 90's. He is darker, more gritty, and complicated than a lot of the brightly colored X-men. He's a perfect opposition to Deadpool. He is dark like Mr. Pool but has a code of honor and a mission. This chemistry is why they've shared so many buddy adventures together.
We're going to take a scalpel to this first look at Cable and see if we can get some clues about what they will get right and wrong with the character. Let's dissect.
Mean Mug
Josh Brolin looks great as Cable. The actor is going to be an excellent fit. His strengths as an actor fit really well with Cable as a character. It is no co-incidence that he also plays Thanos in the MCU. They aren't completely different when it comes to their demeanor. He is potentially as perfect for Cable as Ryan Reynold's has been for Deadpool.
Right off, we can see they nailed it with his face. He is rugged, beaten, mysterious, shadowy, and bad ass. The iconic elements really seal our approval of his "mug shot."
The modern version of his iconic silver military cut looks comic-real.
The glow in his left eye accompanied by the star shaped scar on his right are comic accurate and movie real. This looks great. Like Cable, his mutant power is subtle and often the last line of defense or offense in battle. It hides behind his cybernetic body and his identity as a soldier out of time. Well done with the subtle eye effects!
These elements tell us that they are on the right track to get two of the core elements that define Cable.
First, the grit looks front and center. Cable is a time traveling soldier who is mission oriented to save the world by visiting our time to battle Apocalypse, prevent some event that will alter his future into chaos and war. This mission changes shape from time to time and his opponents change shape as well, but it's all about the mission. He is a battle hardened, no non-sense soldier. He will do WHATEVER it takes, and this look says it all. It looks like they got this spot-on!
Second, Cable is a powerful mental mutant. While his parentage is super important and interesting (check out the comics if you don't know), it's his mental powers that form half of what make him a formidable opponent in battle and a complex character. The bright shining left eye is often the symbol of the activity from this power - most often utilized as telekinesis. They have not found away to do the mental effects from other mutants like Professor X or Jean Gray in the movies, but perhaps Cable will use this visual que to powerful effect. This could be a really big leap forward for comic realism. There is no reason we can't see more of these amazing effects to visualize powers. It makes his look and they are on the right track!
Cable's Mug: Fan Approved!
Big Guy, Big Guns
Cable comes from the 90's in comics. He is the epitome of the era, a true tour de force. It isn't just his willingness to do whatever it takes to complete the mission. It's his imposing will that help define him. This is best visualized in his great size, strength, and massive future weapons.
Cable is a soldier. He is a tactical genius having fought hellish wars in his time. Those are written all over his face, form his iron will, and give his narrative movement. He most often relies on his physicality and firepower to control a battlefield. Coming from the future, he can do so against teams of contemporary mutants and super-villains with ease.
Big Guy
Brolin looks like he has put in the time to get into shape to play Cable. He did some really great work on his arms, kudos. Defined by the 90's style of comics with huge guns and gigantic biceps, Cable is a product of his comic generation in many ways.
Brolin gives it a good shot here, but it is after effects and camera trickery that are going to make or break the physicality of the character. It doesn't look entirely promising here.
Cable is most often depicted as big guy with broad shoulders though that has been tamed in recent iterations of the character from his hulking 90's days. Cable is still a massive physical presence closer to Arnold in his prime than the 5'10" 175lb actor. Getting these characters to inhibit varying sizes becomes especially important visually. Think of Hulk, Groot, Drax. Even Doomsday in BvS (though we hated his look) was represented size specific. The Guardians of Galaxy even showcased Ving Rhames as Charlie-27 as being gigantic in size. Size matters and effects like those used to size up Ving Rhames or even Gandalf and Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings are relatively easy and inexpensive. It's important. It doesn't feel right if they don't get close. He doesn't have to have shoulders spanning several normal sized people as we see in some of the 90's comics. But, he needs to be a big guy. They did it with Colossus to great effect.
Brolin can't portray this size. It was our hope they would use after effects to put him somewhere in between Deadpool and Colossus. It doesn't look like that was important to the film. It's a shame. It's like the days when the Hulk was a body builder in green paint. We can live with it but there will always be a part of us that can't stomach seeing human sized Apocalypse, weight lifter Colossus (in X-2, DOFP), or now...Cable.
The last wrinkle to Cable's size is the omission of his iconic shoulder pads. Cable is often pictured with large, leathery shoulder pads further adding to his size and military gear. Our most favorite of these looks has him with one angular shoulder pad that shoots out from the top of his shoulder. This could have been used to create the illusion of more size, but as most things in Fox's X-men world, they seem to have not been able to reconcile the looks as real and authentic. We still will hold out hope that perhaps Cable will don the iconic pads in future movies like X-Force when they will hopefully continue to increase their comfort with the source material.
Big Guns
The next staple of Cable the character is his big guns. The 90's gave him some gigantic and ridiculous future firepower. We didn't expect to see that level of weaponry, and didn't want it on screen if we're being honest. Yet, it looks more like Cable has some suped-up contemporary firearms. That is a bit of a disappointment.
It seems to indicate that they are not playing up the whole future soldier elements of Cable. This means no body-slides, no computer AI, no Graymalkin, no connection to Apocalypse, and no future weaponry. This might also limit his technopathy and the technovirus elements that gave him his cybernetic half. It's unclear which elements will make their way into Deadpool 2, probably not many of these if any. If Cable and Deadpool 2 do well paving the way for X-Force and others, we hope to see some of these elements make their way into the cinematic universe. So, we'll save total judgement here and give Cable time to mature on-screen.
Follow @SUPERflixMoviesBig guy, Big Guns: Meh
Techno-Organic Cyborg
One of the most iconic elements to Cable is his cybernetic body parts. Most notably, he has a cybernetic left arm and chest. While it is unlikely for Deadpool 2 to get into the techno-organic virus seeding his look, we do get a nice look at the iconic cybernetic left arm.
Cable's cybernetic look has changed from comic artist and era to era. This look is more akin to his more realistic and functional modern look than his previous thick steel appendage - the look they went for with Colossus in Deadpool. We think it looks great and may clue us in to some fun elements to his character.
While it doesn't look very techno-organic, it does look like Cable is futuristic, though not as far advanced as he is in the comics. The arm looks like a more advanced version of the Reavers we saw in Logan earlier this year. Could there be some sort of connection? Mr. Sinister has loomed behind several storylines and teasers recently so could this connection be a clue that Cable may have some interaction with the mad geneticist? Only time will tell.
Techno-Organic Cyborg: Looks good!
We're super excited to see Deadpool 2 and can't wait for one of our favorite characters, Cable, to make his debut.
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