Although Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had at one time considered adding Cable to DEADPOOL, it was decided that the focus should remain purely with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and the fan-favourite character had to make due with a brief mention during DEADPOOL's post-credit scene. Cable will have a large presence in the upcoming sequel however, but certain sacrifices will have to be made in order to fit the character in with the rest of X-MEN franchise and appeal to a larger audience.
Wernick and Reese spoke with Collider about how they're planning on handling Cable, and although the pair promise on making him "like he is in the comics" and will "certainly be faithful," much of his twisty origin story will have to be toned down.
So with Cable, he’s got such a convoluted past, and such a convoluted origin story that I think we’re going to try to leave that, not mysterious, but there are a lot of twists and turns, cloning and all this stuff where you go, “Oh my God. How do we get that across in a two hour movie?” I think we’re going to distill him down to his essence. It will be authentic and faithful, but it’s not going to include the 18,000 details if you were going to read a Wikipedia page about Cable you’d roll your eyes.
According to Wikipedia, "Nathan Summers is the adult son of the X-Man Cyclops (Scott Summers) and Madelyne Pryor (Jean Grey's clone), and the half brother of Rachel Summers, from a possible future timeline, having been transported as an infant to the future, where he grew into a warrior, before returning to the present." Yep, I can certainly see why they'd want to tone that down. An actor hasn't yet been chosen for Cable, although Wernick and Reese have said that those in the running represent an "embarrassment of riches." Ooo, tingle. DEADPOOL 2 is set for a January 12, 2018 release.
Cable thumbnail art by Dave Keenan.