Deadpool 2: Michael Shannon frontrunner to play Cable

michael shannon

by Emma Thrower |
Published on

It was previously thought that David ‘Best Acceptance Speech Giver Ever{ =nofollow}’ Harbour was the man leading the pack for the chance to square off against The Merc With A Mouth in Deadpool 2. But now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon is the one to watch. Who saw that coming?

THR confirm that Harbour screen-tested and is still very much “on the shortlist”, and that Kyle Chandler (whose name popped up last summer) “was never in contention for the role”. Their sources go on to say that Shannon “isn’t the only one on the studio’s list, but he is leading the pack as the top choice at this stage”.

For those a tad unaware of Cable’s place within the X-world, he appears in the comics as an alter-ego of Nathan ‘son of Scott’ Summers, and has long been associated with team X-Force. How much of his backstory makes it into the upcoming X-rated sequel remains to be seen, but we can expect him to boast the cybernetic technology that is a hallmark of the character.

No stranger to comic book movies (Jonah Hex, Man Of Steel), it would be a lot of fun to see Shannon let rip in a world with few boundaries. However, as THR go on to say, scheduling could be an issue as “the in-demand Oscar nominee just signed on for the indie What They Had, which is set to shoot this spring”.

If Shannon does end up facing off against Deadpool, he will join Ryan Reynolds and the newly cast Zazie Beetz for director David Leitch (John Wick 2).

Deadpool 2 begins shooting this summer.

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