Some comic book characters are easier to adapt than others. Superman, for instance, may have hundreds of writers and artists to his name, but the core principles of his character remain the same: he’s powerful, he’s kind, and he’s an idealist in a universe that doesn’t often reward characters for putting their faith in other people. Even when someone like Frank Miller wants to give the character a modern spin, it’s done by exaggerating these core principles, not setting them aside entirely.

And then there are the infinitely more complex characters, those who are tied to cross-over events and parallel timelines and possible futures. Cable, the upcoming addition to the blossoming Deadpool franchise, is one such character, and in a recent interview with Collider (via /Film), the screenwriters of Deadpool 2 sat down to explain the challenge in getting someone like him right:

So with Cable, he’s got such a convoluted past, and such a convoluted origin story that I think we’re going to try to leave that, not mysterious, but there are a lot of twists and turns, cloning and all this stuff where you go, “Oh my God. How do we get that across in a two-hour movie?” I think we’re going to distill him down to his essence. It will be authentic and faithful, but it’s not going to include the 18,000 details if you were going to read a Wikipedia page about Cable you’d roll your eyes.

Whatever the writers decide to do with Cable, they’ll have no shortage of superpowers to pick from. At various points in the character’s history, Cable has demonstrated telepathic abilities, telekinetic abilities, organic time travel, and bio-mechanical implants that pretty much fill in whatever superpower gaps Cable might already be missing. Don’t be surprised to see the writers focus on whatever skills make for the best display of meta-comedy. After all, do you really think that Deadpool 2 would pass on the opportunity to make a whole bunch of time travel jokes? Yeah, I didn’t think so, either.

Either way, here’s hoping the writing goes well, gentlemen, because Deadpool 2 is still heavily rumored for a 2018 release date despite an incomplete script and cast. But hey, no pressure!

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