We are all born with the desire to make a positive difference in the world and achieve specific life objectives. Individuals are sometimes predestined to play a specific role and fulfill certain wishes even before they are born. The mutant ‘Cable,’ for example, was created as part of a complex conspiracy to create an all-powerful mutant.
This mutant was initially shown in the ‘The Uncanny X-MEN’ comics, where his character was still a youngster, created by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld. Throughout the comics, this baby developed into an alpha-level mutant with superhuman abilities. Cable has been through a lot in his life and has been in a lot of life-threatening situations since he was a kid. Let us have a look at his background and find out more about this super-strong militaristic mutant!
The first comic book appearance as Cable
As a mutant, Cable was introduced in the ‘New Mutant Comics #87, where he gets caught up in an attack by the Mutant Liberation Front. This team consisted of young mutants who were brought together by Cable’s evil clone, Stryfe. On one of their adventures, these mutants broke into an energy research lab and set up a bomb to blow the place up. The group teleports away from the facility and Cable appears at the scene as the bomb ticks. He introduces himself as the guy, who is there to catch the mutants but ends up getting caught in the blast.
He vows to get back at the mutants and finds an opportunity when Stryfe sends them to capture and bring two New Mutants – ‘Rusty and Skids’ from a detention center. When the MLF break into the place, they come across Cable, who has been expecting them there. They break into combat, but Cable is no match for the numerous mutants and is defeated. The group then breaks into Skid and Rusty’s cell and teleports away with the two mutants.
While the rest of the comic focuses on other New Mutants, it returns to Cable at the very end, and we see that the mutant is visibly injured. He neglects his physical health while the doctors at the military complex warn him that he is lucky even to be alive. Cable shrugs off all concerns about his prosthetic hand and states that he can make a new one again. While the doctors request him to get some medical help, Cable dwells upon the incidents of the previous days as he vows to go after Stryfe himself.
Interestingly, this comic did not mark this mutant’s first appearance. As a child, Cable was introduced in The Uncanny X-MEN #201 as ‘Nathan,’ and it was later revealed that this young child grew up to become the powerful mutant that we know as Cable.
Since his first appearance, Cable has been a part of various X-Men storylines and he has even appeared in multiple animated series.
His childhood was one big conspiracy
Cabel’s birth was carefully orchestrated by the gene biologist Mr.Sinister, who wanted to create a powerful mutant right before his eyes. The scientist settled on bringing together X-Men Cyclops, also known as ‘Scott Summers’ with ‘Jean Grey,’ and was optimistic that they were an ideal pair to create a strong mutant child. However, Jean Grey was presumed dead at the time, and Mr. Sinister had to look for a different woman.
Using his powers, he created a clone for Jean and named the duplicate ‘Madelyne Pryor.’He then made sure that Madelyne crossed paths with Scott Summers, who ended up falling for her. Since Madelyne resembled Jean in many ways, it took no time for Scott to commit to her, and they settled down in Alaska. The couple soon learned they were having a baby, and Mr. Sinister’s efforts had finally been fruitful. They named the child ‘Nathan Christopher Charles Summers,’ who would become the alpha mutant ‘Cable’ one day.
However, things took a turn with Jean Grey’s return, and it was revealed that she was not dead after all. Scott abandoned his wife and newborn to return to Jean and regrouped with the original five X-Men to form the new ‘X-Factor.’ Driven by his hunger for power, Mr. Sinister sent his men to get rid of Madelyne and bring the newborn Nathan to him. Though Madelyne managed to escape, the infant ‘Nathan’ was captured by Mr. Sinister’s men, who took him to Nebraska.
Nathan was kept in a lab under an orphanage, where the crazed scientist conducted a series of experiments on the mutant child. In the meantime, Madelyne came across some X-Men, and she traveled with them across Dallas, where the group was rumored to be dead. However, this was just a ruse, and she relocated to Australia, where she ran into trouble with the omniversal guardian ‘Roma.’
Eventually, Madelyne was recaptured by Mr. Sinister, who told her about her true identity as a clone. Having lost all sense of self, she ended up on the verge of insanity. It was then that she realized all her abilities and telepathic powers, and her arc was completed when she became the Goblin Queen. As the Goblin Queen, Madelyne kidnapped Nathan and was determined to use him as a sacrifice to keep the balance between Earth and the demonic dimensions.
On a different side, Mr. Sinister had removed all traces of Nathan and Madelyne, which caused Scott significant trouble locating his child. He sought the help of the mutant ‘Destiny,’ who used her powers to find Nathan’s location. Along with Jean Grey and other X-Factor members, Scott rescued his son from the clutches of his ex-wife. Jean even killed Madelyne, thereby getting rid of her clone’s existence, and the couple decided to take Nathan with them.
As the mutant child grew up, he began developing powers and even formed a psionic bond with his half-sister from the future ‘Rachel Summers.’ When in danger, young Nathan could also create a force field that protected him from his surroundings. Unfortunately, it so happened that the powerful mutant ‘Apocalypse’ came after Nathan and managed to infect him with a ‘techno-organic’ virus.
Techno-organic viruses can cause mutants to lose control over their powers as they slowly eat away at their host body and consume their being. As the virus-infected Nathan, it began turning his body into a liquid metallic form. Nathan was then rescued by a member of the ‘Askani Clan.’ This Clan consisted of rebel fighters who could travel through time and claimed that Nathan was supposed to be their savior in the future.
They even promised to cure him of the effects of the virus, and Cyclops agreed to hand his child over to the Clan. The Clan members returned to approximately 2000 years ahead in the future, where Nathan was raised by Mother Askani. She helped him nurture his powers and even control the spread of the techno-organic virus. Mother Askani had also created another clone of him, just in case Nathan didn’t live long due to the virus. This clone grew up to become Stryfe, Cable’s evil twin, who appeared in many storylines against Cable.
Cable in Deadpool 2
Cable had his live-action debut in Deadpool 2 when he was played by actor ‘Josh Brolin.’ He was first mentioned in the post-credit scene of the ‘Deadpool’, which was well-received by many fans. The two antiheroes went way back, as they even shared a comic series titled ‘Cable & Deadpool’, where they made quite a good team as they fought off crime together. The movie’s producers also hinted at the possibility of Cable’s inclusion in the expanding X-Men universe by including him in other films such as New Mutants and Dark Phoenix.
In Deadpool 2, Cable, that is, Nathan Summers was introduced as a soldier who has time-traveled from the future. Cable’s character had returned to the past with a personal agenda, as he looked for the mutant named ‘Russell Collins.’ It appears that Collins had brutally murdered Cable’s family, and Cable had used his powers and returned to the past to prevent this from happening.
Deadpool tries to stop Cable from killing Collins, and they discover that the young Russel Collins had paired up with the supervillain Juggernaut.’ Cable agrees to work with Deadpool to fight against these two, and they work in agreement. Eventually, Cable comes face to face with Collins and shoots at him, but Deadpool intervenes and saves the young man. Deadpool ends up sacrificing his own life, thereby changing the course of the future. Much to Cable’s relief, young Collins ends up going down a different path and chooses a fate where he does not kill Cable’s family.
Cable then decides to use the remaining battery on his time-traveling machine to save Deadpool instead of returning to his family in the future. He brings the superhero back to life and then stays in the future along with Deadpool.
Why is Cable an Alpha-level mutant?
Though exposure to the techno-organic virus has weakened Cable in some ways, it also gave him certain powers such as telekinesis and telepathy. His telepathy gave him the ability to create illusions and trick his opponents, and even remain invisible to his opponents. He could also alter matter, conjure force fields that remained stable even against the most powerful attacks, and used his telekinesis to levitate above the ground surface and fly across the skies for endless hours.
Cable also used his telekinesis to keep the virus in check and minimize its spread across his body. He also had a metallic left arm due to the virus altering his physiology, and the virus also significantly impacted the functioning of the left side of his body. Cable even had trouble with one of his eyes, and he had replaced it with a cybernetic eye in the future. This implanted eye had features that helped him blast lasers through his eyes, thereby shooting down any incoming attacks from afar.
After some efforts, Cable managed to get rid of the virus with some help from his half-sister. However, once his body was healed, Cable discovered that he was less powerful without the virus and decided to willingly expose himself to the virus again. It made him more powerful and gave him superhuman strength and durability in fights.
Cable also had psionic powers since birth, which combined with his powers from the virus, made him one of the most deadly alpha-level mutants out there. Cable could conjure a psionic shield that helped him shield his thoughts, ensuring that no one could control his mind. Moreover, he can also use these psionic abilities to harm his opponents by attacking their minds and causing them to experience pain. He could also take total control over others’ minds, possess them or even alter their memories. Cable could also sense the presence of other mutants across a distance and even establish mental links with them.
After having trouble with his psionic abilities, Cable used the ‘Infonet,’ an alternate technology that helped him to use his telepathy. Though the Infonet did not allow him to read minds, he could still use ‘cyberpathy’ to read and process digital information and even link other beings to the Infonet. Over the years, Cable gained the ability to see flashes from the future by posing the ability of ‘precognition.’ He could also teleport to alternate dimensions in both the past and the future, in both physical as well as astral forms.
To sum it up, Cable has countless powers and abilities that combine to make him the alpha-level mutant he is today!
Conclusion
Although Cable was born under extraordinary circumstances, he went on to become one of the most powerful mutants in the history of the Marvel Universe. After having faced many adversaries, Cable is a seasoned warrior, who has risen above many life-threatening situations in his life. He has showcased tremendous strength and proved his power on countless occasions and is one heck of an alpha-level mutant!