Why does Cable have a teddy bear in Deadpool 2? You’ve probably pondered this very question if you’ve had a close look at the second official image of Josh Brolin in character as the time-traveling badass – and son of Cyclops - Cable.
The introduction of Cable was teased at the end of Deadpool, with Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth suggesting Keira Knightley for the role. But Brolin won out in the end, nabbing the role despite already playing Thanos over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a fact that nobody minds, apparently.)
It was Reynolds – who also shared the first shots of Zazie Beetz as Domino - that Tweeted out the official images of Brolin as Cable. The first picture was a headshot, but the second one took in a lot more, unveiling a cuddly toy attached to Cable’s utility belt, alongside an awful lot of ammo and explosives. In case you missed it, here’s the image:
DeadPool 2: Your premium #Cable provider. #DeadPool2 pic.twitter.com/LboS0iVDqZ— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 7, 2017
When you think about Cable carrying around childhood paraphernalia, one name springs immediately to mind – Hope Summers. In the comics, Hope was the first new mutant born in the dystopian future created by the “M-Day” event. Some (Cable included) saw Hope as a potential messiah figure, while others (such as the fan favorite character Bishop) believed she was an antichrist destined to kill millions.
Cable (real name: Nathan Summers) took Hope under his wing and gave her his surname. Many of Cable’s adventures focused on him protecting Hope, using all of his cyborg abilities – which he gained at a young age from a techno-organic virus – to keep the kid safe. In one iconic variation of his costume, Cable used an ‘X’ of straps to hold an infant version of Hope to his chest.
Perhaps the teddy bear on Brolin’s belt is one that belongs to Hope Summers. Maybe she will be with him, appearing as a physical presence in Deadpool 2. Or perhaps Cable will have lost Hope at this point, and she’ll serve as something of a McGuffin – a treasure for Cable and Deadpool to search for throughout the film.
In the comics, Hope and Cable traveled through time – in a multitude of directions, at various different points – to try and evade persecution. Hope eventually grew up to be an Omega-level mutant with the ability to mimic other people’s powers and control psychic energy.
Conveying all of that convoluted comics history as a side-plot in Deadpool 2 would be impossible, but there is another way that Fox could approach the complicated Hope/Cable mythos.
Deadpool is known for mocking any situation that he’s put in, so when Cable arrives in Deadpool 2, you can bet that Wade Wilson will make light of him. Cable might try to explain that he’s the son of Cyclops - back from the future, infected with a techno-virus - and that Hope is the messiah of mutant-kind, but Deadpool will probably just crack a joke and move on. The Deadpool videogame from 2013 took a similar approach to the Deadpool/Cable dynamic.
Whether they opt to show Hope explicitly or simply have Cable mention her (in the comics, they were separated a whole bunch of times), Fox could use Deadpool 2 to add Hope to the canon as a possible protagonist for a future movie. After all, Fox has a bunch of release dates reserved for mutant-based movies.
Also, this could present an opportunity for Fox to tie Deadpool 2 to another of its X-Men spinoffs: Logan. Therein, it was established that the government had used a massive supply of polluted food/drink products to wipe out ‘random mutancy’. Maybe, at a later point in that timeline, Cable finds Hope - the first natural mutant to manifest after Wolverine and X-23 took down Richard E. Grant. Perhaps, after finding Hope in the post-Logan world, Cable will travel to the past, only to find a very unhelpful new ally waiting for him: the wisecracking, murder-happy Deadpool, who probably wouldn’t be of much use.
Just imagine it: Cable trying to coerce Deadpool into helping him secure the future mutant-kind, to secure/protect Hope Summers and topple a dystopian future, when all Wade wants to do is eat chimichangas and lark about with his girlfriend. That sounds like a recipe for big laughs, right?
