Who is Cable? Here's what you need to know about Josh Brolin's character in 'Deadpool 2'

In recent news on who won Hollywood's next coolest movie role, Josh Brolin just landed Cable in Deadpool 2. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the search for the perfect actor had gone on for months. The role nearly went to Michael Shannon with Stranger Things actor David Harbour hot on his heels. 

Brolin appeared to come in as an eleventh hour contender for the role (although he already played Thanos, a well-known Marvel Comics villain, in The Avengers movies). The Hollywood Reporter claims he's slated to carry the role through four upcoming Marvel films. 

If you're new to the world of Marvel here are a few attributes of Cable worth noting.

Both Cable and Deadpool were created for Marvel Comics by Rob Liefeld in the early '90s where they were part of the New Mutants group, and later members of the X-Force. They also had a comic series together called Cable & Deadpool which ran from 2004 to 2008. Needless to say it was about time for Cable to join the plucky anti-hero. 

Cable (human name Nathan Summers) has incredible abilities. He's telepathic, telekinetic and possesses the ability to time-travel, all things that could easily come in handy around a volatile force like Deadpool. His abilities make sense when you look at who his parents are — Cyclops, and Madelyne Pryor who was a clone of Jean Grey, one of the more powerful X-Men telepaths. 

He's also part cyborg. His entire left arm is bionic, and his left eye is cybernetic, which means he can easily hack into computers and other advanced technology. Whether this attribute will be utilized in Deadpool 2 remains to be seen, but it would be a pretty cool, and useful, power with which to play.

Did we mention he's enormous? In the comics, Cable's on the level with the Hulk in terms of bulkiness, often sporting weapons of a similarly intimidating size. It's not hard to see how Brolin could embody such a formidable character. It's also not hard to imagine this sequel going in a buddy comedy direction with giant Cable up against a lithe stick of dynamite like Deadpool.  

David Leitch is reportedly set to start shooting Deadpool 2 this summer, and the film is slated to be released sometime in 2018. 

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