DEADPOOL 2 Producer Confirms MAN OF STEEL Star Michael Shannon Came Close To Playing Cable

Michael Shannon is perhaps best known to comic book fans as Man of Steel's General Zod, but Deadpool 2 producer Kelly McCormick now reveals how close the actor came to playing Cable. Read on for details...

By JoshWilding - Aug 08, 2022 07:08 AM EST

Filed Under: Deadpool 2

This is a little hard to believe, but it's now been over four years since Ryan Reynolds last played the Merc with the Mouth in Deadpool 2. Had Disney not acquired Fox, we probably would have seen Deadpool 3 by now (barring any delays caused by the pandemic), with X-Force somewhere on the horizon or possibly already in theaters.

Wade Wilson will next be seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, so the delay can be forgiven. Whether any actors from the franchise are going to join Reynolds remains to be seen, though Josh Brolin's Cable showing up could be very funny seeing as he's previously played Thanos in that world.

However, it turns out Cable could have looked very different.

Talking to IndieWire about the release of David Leitch's Bullet Train, Deadpool 2 producer Kelly McCormick confirmed that Man of Steel star Michael Shannon came extremely close to playing the time-travelling mutant.

"He actually almost was Cable," McCormick confirmed. "Then there was some sort of hiccup conflict at the very last minute, and then we just ended up reconnecting on this one, and felt really lucky that this was the role for him. Because Josh [Brolin] was so good as Cable, I can't even imagine [what that would have been like]."

Shannon is set to return as General Zod in The Flash next year, so he's not done with comic book adaptations just yet. As for Brolin, he's never really spoken as positively about his experience working on Deadpool 2 as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

We'd be shocked if Marvel Studios doesn't eventually cast Shannon, while you have to believe Kevin Feige and company would be keen to work with Cable again. His powers could be what brings Deadpool into the MCU, though it all depends on how much baggage they're looking to carry over from that X-Men Universe.

Would you like to see Cable in Deadpool 3?

DEADPOOL 2: Rob Liefeld Confirms Brad Pitt Very Nearly Played Cable In Place Of Josh Brolin

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35 Comments

thewanderer - 8/8/2022, 7:32 AM

Victor Von Doom?

McMurdo - 8/8/2022, 7:35 AM

Both Domino and Cable need to be back

MaskRenamed - 8/8/2022, 7:38 AM

I'd love to have seen him play Cable. He would have been much better one too in my opinion.

OmegaDaGrodd - 8/8/2022, 7:57 AM

Shannon as Cable would've fit DP2 much better. That movie needed a Cable who was tall and crazy, not just gruff and rugged.

DrReedRichards - 8/8/2022, 7:57 AM

🏳️☠️

Origame - 8/8/2022, 8:09 AM

I guess technically he would've been a better choice than Brolin due to size, but purely based on performance it would've been pretty similar to what we got.

inkniron - 8/8/2022, 8:10 AM

Brolin really didn’t do it for me as Cable and Shannon probably wouldn’t have either, despite me being fans of both of their work.

dragon316 - 8/8/2022, 8:52 AM

@inkniron - but before Deadpool two who was top three fan choices play cable josh broken all I kept reading mostly josh broken should play cable be close to hood height to comic character to in real world not always guaranteed spot play that character.,
Tom holland is taller Peter Parker comic height

Whaley87 - 8/8/2022, 1:26 PM

@dragon316 - Tom Holland is actually 2 inches smaller than Peter Parker. 5'8" compared to 5'10"

VictorAlonzo - 8/8/2022, 8:26 AM

VictorAlonzo - 8/8/2022, 8:32 AM

Cable/ Stryfe

KingLeonidas - 8/8/2022, 8:55 AM

I don’t if Shannon is big into working out. He did work out for something but nothing on the level of what Brolin did for Cable. Brolin got properly superhero jacked and shredded. In another universe, he would have gotten Batman role in the Snyderverse and he would have been much better than what we got.

slickrickdesigns - 8/8/2022, 8:56 AM

Glad we got Brolin … there are only two other actors I would’ve liked to see as cable. Ron Perlman or Steven Lang.

Forthas - 8/8/2022, 9:08 AM

He was an excellent Zod. He should be brought back in future Man of Steel films.

Ivnbrandonpaid - 8/8/2022, 9:18 AM

I’m paying $5k to people, please this only an NGO I run to eliminate poverty and bring the kingdom of God to manifestation here on earth, you can look me up on Instagram @ivn_brandon_paid, no games

AnthonyVonGeek - 8/8/2022, 9:20 AM

Come on…. We all know he’s Mephisto… 😜

LSHF - 8/8/2022, 9:32 AM

Nice coincidence, as I just watched Deadpool 2 (again) last night. Probably because of that Domino article made me think of it.

She was pretty lucky throughout the movie. I had forgotten how many time and ways she "lucked out".

I guess being lucky "is" a super power!

emeraldtaurus - 8/8/2022, 9:52 AM

Brolin as Cabel was a kin to Tom Hardy has Bane. Good performance an all that ...he just didn't look enough like the comic. The height was a real let down !

Jackraow21 - 8/8/2022, 10:43 AM

@emeraldtaurus - But in some scenes they made Hardy look huge and imposing with camera angles and lifts on his shoes. They could do the same with Brolin. Plus digital effects have gotten so easy and much cheaper now too, so it would be easy to make Josh a more comic accurate version of Cable for the MCU in Deadpool 3. Just saying…

LenSkivorskiJr - 8/8/2022, 12:11 PM

Wish he was Bruce Banner, maybe a variant....?

DEADPOOL 2 Producer Confirms MAN OF STEEL Star Michael Shannon Came Close To Playing Cable

Michael Shannon is perhaps best known to comic book fans as Man of Steel's General Zod, but Deadpool 2 producer Kelly McCormick now reveals how close the actor came to playing Cable. Read on for details...

DEADPOOL 2: Rob Liefeld Confirms Brad Pitt Very Nearly Played Cable In Place Of Josh Brolin

LEGION Star Aubrey Plaza Auditioned For Domino In DEADPOOL 2: "Me And Ryan Reynolds; What Could Go Wrong?"

DEADPOOL 2: Rob Liefeld Confirms Brad Pitt Very Nearly Played Cable In Place Of Josh Brolin

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LEGION Star Aubrey Plaza Auditioned For Domino In DEADPOOL 2: "Me And Ryan Reynolds; What Could Go Wrong?"

DEADPOOL 2 Actor Lewis Tan Seemingly Teases Shatterstar's Return For DEADPOOL 3

DEADPOOL 2 Producer Confirms MAN OF STEEL Star Michael Shannon Came Close To Playing Cable

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