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?