Cable | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | As Nathan Summers: The Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986) As Cable: The New Mutants #87 (March 1990) |
Created by | Nathan Summers: Chris Claremont Rick Leonardi Cable: Louise Simonson Rob Liefeld |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Nathan Christopher Charles Summers |
Species | Human mutant |
Team affiliations | |
Partnerships | |
Notable aliases | Nathan Winters, Nathan Dayspring, Askani'son, Soldier X, Chosen One, Traveler, Kid Cable (Nate Summers) |
Abilities |
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Cable (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with X-Force and the X-Men. Nathan first appeared as the newborn infant in The Uncanny X-Men #201 (Jan. 1986) created by writer Chris Claremont and penciler Rick Leonardi, while Cable first appeared in The New Mutants #87 (March 1990) created by writer Louise Simonson and artist/co-writer Rob Liefeld; Cable's origin initially was undecided and he was assumed to be a separate character, but it was later decided that he was actually an older version of Nathan due to being 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), as well as the "half"-brother of Rachel Summers from the "Days of Future Past" timeline and Nate Grey from the timeline of the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, the genetic template of the mutant terrorist Stryfe (one of his deadliest enemies), and 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 version (Nate Summers, sometimes called Kid Cable) operated until 2021, when the original, older iteration was revived.
Cable was introduced to a wider audience as a recurring character in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) and its sequel series, voiced by Lawrence Bayne and by Chris Potter respectively. The character made his live-action cinematic debut in Deadpool 2 (2018), portrayed by Josh Brolin.