The popular X-Men character Cable, played by Josh Brolin, would have seen a lot more screen time in the standalone X-Force movie from Fox. The film was set to be written by Jeff Wadlow, who has since worked on Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island. Unfortunately for both Wadlow and Brolin, this Cable-centric X-Force film was never produced.
After releasing several films in the X-Men franchise to varying degrees of success, Fox initially hired Wadlow, who was known at the time for his work on Kick Ass 2, to write a standalone X-Force movie. Wadlow has stated that he planned a whole three-film arc for the X-Force characters, but after some development, Fox passed on the film, choosing instead to pursue a more comedic route with the Deadpool franchise. This has left many wondering what his X-Force movie would have covered if it had been produced.
Now, in an interview with Collider, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld shared what he knows about the X-Force movie Fox developed. Liefeld explains that as far as he’s aware, the X-Force movie would have featured Cable as a central character, acting independently of other X-Men characters. “In between Deadpool 2 wrapping and opening, I got really close with Josh. And he was very excited about exploring Cable in the subsequent sequels,” Liefeld says. “The X-Force standalone movie that was, in his own words, Cable-centric.” The creator goes on to say he believes Cable should be given his own series, and that he’s confident a Cable franchise would be successful. “Cable should have his own movie series. He can exist independent of Deadpool in a heartbeat. He has for years.” Liefeld also compares the number of comics both Cable and Deadpool have appeared in, noting that Cable has appeared in almost 200 more issues than Deadpool. The comic creator argues that because of this, Cable is already a well-established character that fans would be happy to see in more leading roles.
But even if Liefeld is enthusiastic, audiences have yet to see Cable in a standalone film. It isn’t as though fans have been deprived of Cable content, but die-hard X-Force fans have voiced their dissatisfaction with what they’ve seen so far. In a move that surprised many audience members, the 2018 Deadpool sequel featured several different X-Force characters as part of a rag-tag team thrown together at the last minute by Wade Wilson. This unexpected move from Deadpool 2 established Cable in an unconventionally comedic way but led to many fans questioning the decisions behind his representation. Even Brolin himself came forward, saying he was unhappy with his performance in Deadpool 2.
Despite this negative reaction, Cable’s appearance in Deadpool 2 could have been laying the foundations for a more Cable-centric film in the future. Introducing Cable as a side character in an already popular franchise could have served as a backdoor pilot of sorts, a way for Fox to gauge the popularity of the character and determine if he could carry a franchise of his own. Now the decision to produce a Cable film like X-Force rests solely in Marvel Studios' hands.
Source: Collider