Cable (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with X-Force and the X-Men. The child Nathan first appeared as a newborn infant in The Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986) created by writer Chris Claremont and penciler Rick Leonardi, while the adult warrior Cable was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist/co-writer Rob Liefeld, and first appeared in The New Mutants #87 (March 1990). Initially, Cable's origin was undecided and he was assumed to be a separate character. It was later decided that he was actually an older version of the child Nathan, having later become a time traveler.
Nathan Summers is the son of the X-Men member Cyclops (Scott Summers) and his first wife Madelyne Pryor (Jean Grey's clone). This makes him the "half"-brother of Rachel Summers (a child of Scott and Jean from the "Days of Future Past" timeline) and Nate Grey (a child created from Scott and Jean's DNA from the timeline of the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline). The mutant terrorist Stryfe is a clone of Cable and one of his deadliest enemies. Cable is also the adoptive father of Hope Summers.
Born in the present-day, Nathan was infected with a deadly techno-organic virus while still an infant. He was sent into a possible future timeline where he could be treated and live his life. In this future world, Nathan grew into the warrior Cable and became an enemy of the villain Apocalypse. He later returned to the present-day era, initially arriving some years before his own birth. Since making his home in the modern era, he has worked alongside the X-Men (including Cyclops and Jean Grey) and reformed the New Mutants group into the original X-Force. He had frequent battles against the near-invincible assassin Deadpool, who later became an on-again, off-again ally for years. In the 2018 Extermination mini-series, Cable was killed and replaced by a younger, time-displaced version of himself who decided that the older one was ineffective in his crusade. This younger Cable (sometimes called "Kid Cable") operated until 2021, when the original, older iteration was revived.
Cable was a recurring character in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997), voiced by Lawrence Bayne, introducing him to a wider audience. The character made his live-action cinematic debut in Deadpool 2 (2018), portrayed by Josh Brolin.
Publication history
Creation
Nathan Christopher Charles Summers is the son of Scott Summers (aka Cyclops), and Madelyne Pryor (who was later revealed in the "Inferno" storyline to be a clone of Jean Grey). Writer Chris Claremont, who had written the series since issue #94 (Aug. 1975), revealed Madelyne to be pregnant in X-Men/Alpha Flight #1 (Dec. 1985). The next depiction of her pregnancy was in The Uncanny X-Men #200, when she goes into premature labor. In the following issue, #201 (Jan. 1986), Nathan first appears as a newborn infant.
The character's first appearance as the adult warrior Cable was at the end of The New Mutants #86 (Feb. 1990). He does not appear anywhere in the issue's story except for the "next issue" teaser. This was followed by a full appearance in The New Mutants #87 (March 1990). At first, Cable was not intended to be the adult version of Nathan Summers, but was created as a result of unrelated editorial concerns. Editor Bob Harras wanted to "shake things up" for the book, and felt a new leader was needed, a sharp contrast from the group's founder and first mentor, Professor X. The book's writer, Louise Simonson, thought a military leader would be a good idea, and Harras tasked the book's artist, Rob Liefeld, to conceptualize the character. Harras may also have suggested the character's bionic eye. Both Simonson and Liefeld each separately conceived of the leader being a mysterious time traveler from the future. Liefeld chose the name Cable for the character. Liefeld explains the creation of the character: