Cable is one of the most famous X-Men characters in history. This recognition is somewhat surprising, given that he’s a relatively new character; he debuted in The Uncanny X-Men #201, which hit the store shelves in 1991. (Nathan Summers, though, debuted in 1986. It’s complicated. For comparison, the X-Men first appeared in 1963. The ‘90s were a risky time for new X-Men characters hoping to stick around; the writers introduced fans to many new of the team and it’s safe to say that many of these additions crashed and burned. Why, then, has Cable thrived? Was it his looks: the cybernetic arm, the guns and the muscles that encapsulated everything about 90s comics? Or his ability to time-travel and, subsequently, use futuristic technology?
Maybe it’s a combination of these factors, among others. Regardless, Cable has become a fan-favorite character. However, though the writers have made him a successful hero, some of Cable’s characteristics are pretty weird. When you stop to analyze his background, it’s evident that he has one of the most complicated origin stories in recent memory. (That’s why Deadpool 2 only offered a bare-bones version of it.) Then, there’s his power set. Sometimes, Nate is an omega-level mutant. At other points, he’s just a super soldier with fancy tech. Almost everything about the character is weird, from his parents to his body. As a result, CBR has decided to break down the most questionable things about Cable by providing a list of the top 20 things about him that don’t make any sense.
HIS MOM TRIED TO SACRIFICE HIM
Cable’s parentage is weird and, throughout the list, we’ll fully explain just how wacky his upbringing was. Here, let’s take a moment to scrutinize just how odd his mother, Madelyne Pryor, is. At first, she was a fairly normal character but, after she ed forces with the demon N’astirh, she became a bonafide super-villain.
Cable’s place in this devolution is particularly notable; Madelyne initially made a deal with the devil (figuratively speaking) to save her son from Mister Sinister. But, shortly thereafter, she tried to sacrifice the boy in order to serve N’astirh’s agenda. The whole affair was pretty confusing and questionable at best.
His RELATIONSHIP WITH SISTER Is Kinda Weird...
Cable’s from the future. (Technically. It’s a long story.) He’s sent 2000 years into the future because Mother Askani, who’s actually his half-sister, Rachel, wanted to protect him. Askani’s place in Cable’s backstory, in hindsight, foreshadowed the extent to which Marvel would continue to play with alternate timelines. (Both with Cable and the X-Men in general.)
As with other characters, Cable’s relationship with Earth-616’s Rachel would always have a weird vibe, at least for Nathan, given that he knew her as someone else. Ah, time travel; isn’t it wonderful? To some extent, sending characters backwards/forwards in time is practically guaranteed to be complicated and Cable’s entire origin story is a prime example of that.
HE'S NOT ACTUALLY FROM FUTURE
It’s easy to say that Cable’s a time-traveling soldier from the future; the description has a nice ring to it. But Nathan Summers was actually born in the modern day and subsequently sent forward in time. As previously mentioned, Cable time-travels more than Barry Allen in The Flash and it can be a little confusing.
There may not be a character more associated with the time-stream than Cable; at the very least, he has to be near the very top of the list. Thankfully, in some ways, Marvel has eased up on this aspect of Cable’s character; as with most comics, it was a lot worse in the ‘90s.
He's NOT JEAN'S SON
Most fans know that Cable is Scott Summers’ son. There’s often an assumption that, therefore, Jean Grey is Nathan’s mom. This argument is technically true. Scott fathered the future Cable with Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean. (Mister Sinister made the clone so he could manipulate the creation of a mutant with Scott’s and Jean’s genes.)
Looking back at it now, it seems like having Madelyne as Nathan’s mom wasted plenty of storytelling potential. Sure, there are still tender moments between Nate and his “parents,” Scott and Jean. But these stories would resonate so much more if Cable was actually their son. Instead, there will always be some emotional distance in this triangle.
OMEGA-LEVEL MUTANT
Cable is actually one of the most powerful mutants in Marvel. But it can be pretty hard to tell because Marvel often restricts his access to his abilities. For a while, Nathan couldn’t use his full powers because a significant portion of his energy was devoted to fighting his techno-organic virus. (More on that later.)
At one point, Cable used the Dominus Objective to access a lot of the world’s technologically-shared information. At his best, Nathan is an immensely powerful telepath with impressive telekinetic skills. But, as seen in Deadpool 2, sometimes he’s portrayed as a (mostly) powerless soldier with technology that lets him time-travel.
HIS NEMESIS IS EVIL CLONE
Cable is arguably an embodiment of ‘90s comics. He’s got a “cool” cybernetic arm, he (sometimes) is depicted as an impossibly muscular character, and he has an affinity for guns. To top it all off, he has an evil clone because... why not? This clone, Stryfe, is Cable’s worst enemy. The villain has wreaked havoc on Nathan’s life; he destroyed Cable’s family and continues to be a thorn in his side.
Few Marvel rivalries have been so bitterly personal but some fans disapprove of the cliched evil clone storyline. At the very least, Marvel has found ways to make it interesting and Stryfe, at times, is placed at the center of the X-Men universe.
WOLVERINE BECOMES CABLE
Cable and Wolverine are two of the most famous X-Men of all time and they’re both beloved characters. Both heroes fit the anti-hero archetype that started becoming quite popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Naturally, in one storyline, Marvel made Nathan and Logan the same person. (Technically.) After battling Apocalypse, Wolverine lost his arm. (Note: Cable lost an arm, too.)
The battle left Logan broken because he lost his healing factor and the X-Men were decimated. Like Nathan, Wolverine kept battling Apocalypse and returned to the past. There, looking a lot like Cable, he revealed his true identity. The whole story further proved how similar these two characters were.
WEIRD RELATIONSHIP WITH DOMINO
Cable really can’t catch a break. He already has to deal with time-travel tomfoolery all the time and his mom tried to sacrifice him to a demon. So, when Nathan finally gets to fall in love, fans hope that things will work out for the best. Unfortunately, it never does. Both of Cable’s marriages ended in heartbreak. Then, naturally, when he met Domino and eventually formed feelings for her, things went sideways.
Nathan and Domino bonded and slowly began trending toward a romantic relationship. Domino, who was Copycat in disguise, forced things along and it took Nate a while to catch on. Since this ordeal ended, Domino and Cable have never had a solid run as a couple. (Thanks, Copycat.)
TEMPORARILY ABSORBED DEADPOOL
When Deadpool is involved, shenanigans are typically abound. Plenty of things about Cable are just plain weird. So, they make a great pair. The time he regurgitated Deadpool after absorbing him might just take the cake, though. During the “If Looks Could Kill” storyline, both Cable and Deadpool are infected with a virus that turns them blue.
Cable, to save them both, absorbs the Merc with A Mouth and throws him back up. (The whole episode is pretty illogical.) Then, to make matters even more strange, Cable altered the virus so that it turned him pink and reversed the effects just to demonstrate how powerful he is. Show off!
BABY/TEENAGE CABLE
Have we mentioned that Cable is inherently linked to time-travel? Beyond frequently playing with the time-stream, Marvel also likes to play with the character’s age. In Cable & Deadpool #17, the Merc with a Mouth has to save Nathan, who’s been turned into a baby, from Mister Sinister.
The villain uses Deadpool’s powers to accelerate Nathan’s aging process which, ironically, allows Cable to defeat Sinister. More recently, Marvel fans met an angsty, teenage version of Cable in Extermination, where the younger version of Nathan takes out his older self. Teen Cable is now a leading figure in a new X-Force series and it seems like he’ll be around for a while.