Deadpool 2: Who Is Cable?

A live-action version of Cable blessed homes across the world
recently when the trailer for Deadpool 2 hit the
internet, and oh boy, Josh Brolin looks awesome as the
time-travelling leader of X-Force. He’s going to be a major part of
the newest superhero starring super-powered mutants.

But who is Cable, and where does he come from? Those answers
aren’t simple, as many characters from the X-Men comics have overly
complicated and convoluted backstories, especially Cable. We’ll do
out best to fill you in and let you know everything you need to
know about Cable.

Nathan Summers–the baby who would eventually become Cable–made
his debut in The Uncanny X-Men #201 in 1986. His parents
were Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey. During the
child’s early years, Mr. Sinister wanted to use Nathan as a weapon
to destroy Apocalypse.

However, things didn’t go exactly as planned, and Nathan fell
into the hands of Apocalypse. Being a bad guy in the X-Men world,
Apocalypse infected Nathan with a techno-organic virus. It was
incurable. In order to save the boy from dying, Askani–a women
from the future who leads the fight against Apocalypse–instructs
Cyclops to take Nathan 2000 years into the future.

It turns out Askani is Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops
and Jean Grey from an alternate reality. Askani clones Nathan in
case he doesn’t survive the virus. That clone was abducted by
Apocalypse loyalists during an attack (more on that later). The
real Nathan survives the disease and for some time, is raised by
Askani.

The version of Cable we all know and love (created by Louise
Simonson and Rob Liefeld) debuted in New Mutants #87 in
1990. He was a really cool-looking character with a military
mindset, who tried to take down the Mutant Liberation Front. Cable
has several confrontations with the leader of the MLF, Stryfe. In
issue #100 of New Mutants, Stryfe removed his helmet to
reveal that he looks exactly like Cable. You probably know where
this is going.

Cable moved on to lead a new X-Force team, with a slew of new
mutants. During X-Cutioner’s Song, Stryfe goes undercover as Cable
and attempts to kill Professor X. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Jean Grey
get kidnapped, and the X-Men learn that Stryfe is behind it all. It
turns out that Stryfe was that cloned baby of Cable from the
future, which, at the time, was a shocker. Eventually, the story
leads to an epic battle on the Moon where Cable seemingly
sacrifices himself in order to kill Stryfe.

However, it turns out Cable wasn’t dead, and he was displaced in
the future. For more than 20 years, there are stories with Cable
teaming up and fighting other members of his lineage, taking on a
new Mutant Liberation Front, and working with unlikely foes. It
wasn’t until 2004 that comic fans got one of the character’s best
series: Cable & Deadpool.

While the two characters met during Deadpool’s first appearance
in New Mutants #98 back in 1991, the 2004 Cable &
Deadpool series explored the relationship between them. It’s
funny, bizarre, and while there aren’t any Earth-shattering stories
that completely change the course of either character, it’s widely
considered to be a brilliant, entertaining, and engaging
series.

Back to the serious part of Cable’s history, one of his bigger
stories comes in the aftermath of “Decimation,” a storyline where
Scarlet Witch said the words “No more mutants,” thus causing all
but 198 mutants in the Marvel Universe to disappear. Then, one day,
a new mutant was born named Hope. Her town was attacked by The
Purifiers–yet another anti-mutant terrorist group–but Cable
showed up and saved her. He believed Hope was destined to save all
of mutant-kind. However, others–like Bishop–thought differently,
so Cable was tasked with taking care of her.

During this story, Stryfe shows back up and tries to kill Hope.
He was stopped time and time again by Bishop, Cable, and the
X-Force. After saving Hope again, Cable parted ways with her and
went on to start a new X-Force team.

Cable’s abilities are a mixture of mutant powers and
technological enhancements. As a mutant, he has telepathy and
telekinesis, much like his mother–minus the whole demonic black
magic thing Madelyne had as Goblin Queen. Cable’s mutant abilities
are extremely powerful, and he has variations on both telepathy and
telekinesis that many other mutants with his abilities don’t have,
like precognition: being able to get visions from the past or–on
occasion–being able to transfer his mind and powers into other
people.

On the tech side of things, Cable has a metallic arm which gives
him enhanced strength. In addition, he has a force field that
protects him, like we saw in the Deadpool 2 trailer
when someone shoots at him. (Depending on the comic, some creators
have said this is part of his telekinetic powers though) Cable has
a cybernetic eye. This eye allows him to see different spectrums
that a human eye wouldn’t be able to see, and in addition, he’s
been known to fire a laser out of it. Of course, he has other
technological advantages, but none of them is more important than
being able to travel through time, which doesn’t happen as often as
you’d think in the comics.

Looking for some recommended reading? Check these
storylines out!

• Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix: Cyclops
  and Jean Grey travel to the future to raise Cable. They meet Askani
  and Cable gets cloned in case he dies from the virus infecting him.
  Takes place in The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix
  #1-4.
• X-Cutioner’s Song: A man named Stryfe is
  trying to tear the X-Men apart and kill Cable. It’s a major story
  for the character that journeys through all the X-Men titles. Takes
  place in Uncanny X-Men #294-#297, X-Men #14-16, X-Factor
  #85-86, X-Force #17-19, and Stryfe’s Strike
  File.
• Cable & Deadpool: If Looks Could Kill:
  Cable and Deadpool’s first story from their new series. Deadpool is
  hired by a religious group to steal a virus, and Cable is learning
  how to used his newly-enhanced abilities. Of course, the two end up
  working together, and it’s just as bizarre as you think it is.
  Takes place in Cable & Deadpool #1-6.
• Messiah War: Set 1000 years in the future,
  X-Force is on a mission to retrieve Cable and Hope–the baby Cable
  has been protecting. However, Bishop, Apocalypse, and Stryfe are
  all after them as well. Takes place in X-Force/Cable: Messiah
  War, Cable #13-15, and X-Force #14-16.
• Ultimate X-Men: Cable: Cable appears in the
  Ultimate Universe, but with a big spin on the character. Takes
  place in Ultimate X-Men #75-78.