Cable Call – 5 Actor Shortlist

February 17, 2016 1 By Gary

Cable is arguably one of the most popular mutants of all time; since his first appearance in New Mutants 87, he’s blazed a trail across time and space, kicking butt, and taking names.

He’s an important character and getting an actor with the right look and the right attitude is vital, as, frankly, without Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Fox’s X-Universe needs a new backbone. Deadpool’s massive success (read our Deadpool movie review by Deadpool here) so far means he’ll be riding that backbone; can a well cast Cable be far behind?

Here’s some obvious (and not so obvious) choices for the time travelling hero.

Stephen Lang

[img via Bosslogic]

The Avatar alum is a no brainer possibility. Not only does he look the part (it looks like Rob Liefeld travelled to the future, did a sketch of Stephen Lang, drew a lens flare over his eye, then put it in a comic book) with the chiseled jaw, silver hair, and guns, he has the gravitas to make you think that if he looks at you the wrong way that you’ll snap in half.

He’s also keen to play the role, which is a big plus.

Bosslogic made an epic photo-manipulation of what Stephen Lang could look like as Cable…and it’s ridiculously impressive.

Ron Perlman

[img via betterwithbob.blogspot.com]

Another no brainer possibility, Ron Perlman is no stranger to comic book movies having played the titular character in Hellboy and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

In Sons of Anarchy he played a character on the edge, and he could easily bring that same intensity to the role.

His deep, gravelly voice, almost serves as a character on its own and would lend itself well to the force of nature that is Cable.

Jon Hamm

[img via nerdapproved.com]

Is he too handsome to play Cable? Cable needs to be chiseled, but he also needs to look world weary; John Hamm wouldn’t look weary after a 114 hour bender…but he’s an excellent actor, so there’s no doubt he could pull it off. Some of his Mad Men intensity would be required, but he could do it.

Would he be interested though?

Kiefer Sutherland

[img via www.thesun.co.uk]

Could Jack Bauer take a turn as Cable? After 9 seasons of getting tortured, tormented, and really just being a general bad-ass, Kiefer Sutherland has the acting chops to play Cable.

It would require a lot of time in the gym, however, and physical transformations haven’t been a part of his acting portfolio of late, so that may be the only hurdle; if he can bulk up, he can be Cable; after all…compared to 9 seasons of Jack Bauer? Cable’s had it easy in his hellish future.

Colin Farrell

[img via movietvtechgeeks.com]

He might be an uncommon choice but Colin Farrell has some things going for him.

1) He’s an excellent and versatile actor (Tigerland is a particularly memorable performance).

2) He’s focused more on smaller budget films of late so he may be interested in picking up a franchise

3) He’s done a superhero movie before. Yes, it was terrible. Absolutely terrible. But it wasn’t really his fault.

Yes, he would need to hit the gym…hard…to properly replicate the physically imposing nature of Cable, but it certainly wouldn’t be impossible. After all, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine’s level of jacked-ness increased with each film. Remember how he looked in X-Men?