Remember back when Deadpool teased the live-action debut of Cable back in 2016? The casting of the time-traveling, gray-haired, one-eyed mutant became a good topic for discussion, but when Josh Brolin got the role, fans went nuts. This is probably due to the fact that he was also playing Thanos. What was really bonkers was that he played both characters in the same year. Avengers: Infinity War in April and Deadpool 2 in May, back-to-back months and both movies received stellar reviews and killed it at the box office. And even though it wasn’t a comic book movie, Sicario: Day of the Soldado was another movie with Josh Brolin at the helm. 2018 was basically his year.
But between Josh Brolin’s performances as Thanos and Cable, it’s kind of hard to decide which is better. I would personally choose his legendary performance as the Mad Titan, mostly because he was able to make us remotely understand his motivations. And let’s not forget how perfect that CGI and motion capture was. It’s things like that that make me confident about the future of comic book movies.
Since Thanos was more of a villainous and alien role, playing Cable, a far more human character, seemed to suit Brolin well. What was very amazing about his performance was how he managed to place Cable between the lines of hero and villain. At first sight, he portrayed the character as a vengeful killer who was willing to murder a young boy. When we eventually learned about his true motivations, however, he becomes more sympathetic. In one of the serious moments of Deadpool 2 when he argued about the ends justifying the means as a reason to kill Russell, he could be seen as psychopath, but he was also fighting for his family. This was an intriguing way to write Cable, because he made for the perfect anti-hero. Could this version fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
So Thanos is gone (maybe not forever), but that doesn’t mean Josh Brolin can’t return. Gemma Chan played Minerva in Captain Marvel, the character died, and now she’s returning to the MCU to play Sersei in The Eternals. Needless to say, she’s able to do this because Minerva was an alien character, while Sersei closely resembles a human. Plus, Gemma Chan is just a very talented actress Marvel probably doesn’t want to part ways with. If that’s the case, then it would be pretty silly of them to not give Josh Brolin a call.
Now Josh Brolin’s Cable was in the Marvel universe created by Fox, but Fox is now owned by Marvel/Disney. So where does that leave Josh Brolin and the Cable character? Well, I would say that all depends on whether or not Marvel wants to bring in Ryan Reynolds and his Deadpool. Since we’ve heard that Marvel does indeed want to bring back Ryan Reynolds and his Deadpool for Deadpool 3, that gives me some hope that we’ll see Josh Brolin reprise his role as Cable again. Since that X-Force movie was scrapped due to the Disney/Fox merger, I think Marvel does owe us another appearance from Josh Brolin as Cable.
So if Josh Brolin were to return as Cable, what would be the perfect time and place for him to do so? Would it be Deadpool 3? That would be the logical choice, but honestly, who knows how Marvel intends to squeeze Deadpool into the MCU. All I know is that I’m very curious to see how they do it, because come on, how can you forget about Deadpool? If Cable does make an appearance in Deadpool 3, it would probably be due to their ironic partnership. They’re a one of a kind duo, but I wouldn’t want his appearance to be forced in anyway.
Maybe Cable could be Deadpool’s key to crossing over into the MCU? After all, he is a time-traveler who has access to highly advanced technology, so having him help Deadpool travel to different dimensions sounds plausible. Would he do it intentionally? Maybe not, but as we all know, Deadpool always finds a way to get what he wants.
Cable can return in Deadpool 3, but his reputation as a time-traveling mutant set him up for a bigger story. For instance, if you Marvel fans checked out the Loki finale, you’ll know that Kang the Conquerer is the real keeper of time. Or, to put it more accurately, this Kang was just a variant of the famous Marvel villain. And according to this variant, there are far more versions of Kang who are much more villainous.
Remember what Tony Stark said in Avengers: Endgame about the consequences of messing with time? If you mess with it, it will mess with you back, and Kang is exactly that. After the Loki finale, it’s clear that all other villainous variants of Kang intend to “fix” the timeline as they see fit. That probably means hunting down and killing whoever tries to break their timeline.
Because of Deadpool 2, we know that Cable is more than willing to travel back at any point in time to change the course of history. Even if he’s from a different universe, that doesn’t matter to Kang. If he tries to travel back in time and mess with it, Kang will probably go after him. He and Deadpool already changed a significant part of their timeline with Russell, so this could’ve caught a Kang variant’s eye already.
Marvel is indeed setting up Kang the Conquerer to be the next Thanos-level threat for the Avengers. If he is, then having a time-traveling mutant like Cable in their corner could be a big help. His vast knowledge of time travel, futuristic technology, and overall combat skills would make him a valuable ally in a battle against Kang.
For the record, this is rumored to happen somewhere down the line in the MCU. The source? The site known as We Got This Covered. Yeah, that means Cable joining the Avengers to fight Kang in the MCU is unlikely. Don’t get your hopes up about this, but you have to admit, it does sound awesome. Josh Brolin returning as Cable? We’ll certainly take that. Is he an ideal character to help the Avengers fight Kang? Absolutely, and I honestly hope it happens because it does make sense. This could be one of the few time WGTC is giving us some valid information, but only time will tell. No pun intended.
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