Brace Yourselves, ‘Deadpool 2’ Writers Tease Imminent Cable Casting

Casting for Deadpool 2 is well underway, and with Atlanta star Zazie Beetz recently signing on to play Domino, one of two major roles has now been filled. And while Cable isn’t the only other new character joining the Merc With the Mouth for his upcoming sequel, he is arguably the most important piece of the casting puzzle given the larger role he’ll be playing in this corner of the mutant universe. According to the film’s writers, we’ll learn who’s playing Cable (as well as a few other “obscure” mutant characters) in Deadpool 2 “very soon.”

And that’s not “soon” as in, like, six months from now — production on the sequel is scheduled to begin this summer for a 2018 release, which means we’ll be hearing a lot more about who’s who in Deadpool 2 over the next several weeks. While speaking with ComicBook.com to promote their new film Life (which also stars Ryan Reynolds), writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick confirmed that Beetz’s casting as Domino was just the tip of the iceberg:

An announcement will be coming very soon. We’re gonna go into production in the next couple of months and cast announcements will be coming fast and furious.

A few actors have been floated as contenders for Cable, a formidable mutant who shares a significant history with Deadpool in the comics. Kyle Chandler, Dolph Lundgren and Stranger Things star David Harbour have all been eyed for the role, but the casting process has taken a little longer as Wernick and Reese and director David Leitch search for the perfect fit. The writers say they’re specifically looking for “someone with a great deadpan thing where they can react to someone who’s being crazy,” but the casting of Cable is also key to Fox’s franchise plans, as Wernick explains:

They’ve got X-Force coming up. Cable is head of the X-Force so it’s someone who can also command a movie franchise. It’s a tall task and we have been on the hunt for a very long time. I think once it’s announced, as we get closer, people are gonna go crazy for it.

While speaking with LRM (via /Film), Reese and Wernick added “there are definitely some more obscure characters that people know or that real diehards know” that will be featured in the Deadpool sequel, including new villains and allies.

Deadpool 2 arrives in 2018.