The Real Reason Josh Brolin's Cable Wasn't In Deadpool & Wolverine

Hey, did you know "Deadpool & Wolverine" has cameos? Of course you did, because this movie is so stuffed with guest appearances that it is, as /Film's Chris Evangelista put it, a disappointing cameo-fest. Whether you were actually disappointed by the sheer level of cameo-ism on display in the movie will depend on several factors, such as how much of a Marvel fan you are and how seriously you take the film. Viewed as a light-hearted piece of box office entertainment, the constant guest spots can actually make "Deadpool & Wolverine" a grand old time at the movies, especially if you're a fan of the erstwhile 20th Century Fox Marvel films.

Part-way through the movie, it essentially becomes an homage to the now defunct universe established by Fox, which was subsumed by Disney back in 2019. That means we got cameos from an impressive array of Fox Marvel stars, including Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Dafne Keen's X-23, and the main event for every kid '90s kid who grew up watching Wesley Snipes as the most badass vampire hunter on the big screen: Blade.

With this absolute orgy of cameos, it might seem odd to note that certain people didn't make the cut. Writers Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Shawn Levy seemingly managed to get everyone fans could have hoped for. But there were, indeed, exceptions. Where was James McAvoy's Professor X, or Patrick Stewart's version for that matter? Where was James Marsden's Cyclops, or Halle Berry's Storm? Come to think of it, why wasn't Josh Brolin's Cable in this movie? He'd just appeared in "Deadpool 2" prior to this film, so what gives?

Josh Brolin established his Marvel legacy by playing Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." (He officially debuted in the role for 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy.") Though he was mostly obscured by a lot of purple CGI in the films, you can see Brolin looking a lot less terrifying as the Mad Titan in the behind-the-scenes footage, which actually demonstrates how key his facial motion capture was to animating the villain convincingly.

But Brolin wasn't content with playing one of the greatest Marvel Cinematic Universe villains yet. Just one month after the April 2018 debut of "Infinity War," he appeared as Cable in "Deadpool 2," a film that belonged to the then still-active Fox Marvel universe. Unlike Thanos, however, Cable makes it through his blockbuster alive, which seemingly set him up to appear in future movies. Why, then, wasn't this cybernetic soldier from the future featured in "Deadpool & Wolverine?"

Co-writer Paul Wernick spoke to IndieWire, revealing that he and his fellow scribes "had access to just about everybody." According to Wernick, Brolin's absence had to do with the fact that the writers were more focused on giving particular Fox Marvel heroes a proper send-off. When asked whether there was ever any iteration of the movie in which Josh Brolin's Cable returned, Wernick replied:

"Creatively, we wanted to tap into this idea of people or characters who didn't get their proper ending at Fox to pay tribute to them, to give them a legacy. I think on the Cable side, absolutely he was considered. I think it's just he was just in 'Deadpool 2.' So, the idea of giving him a proper ending, he's still a character that, my guess is, will appear in the Fox-Marvel mash-up universe at some point."

Coming off his turn in the critically acclaimed box office triumph that was "Dune: Part Two," Josh Brolin is doing fine. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't have liked to have returned as Cable in "Deadpool & Wolverine." Bingeworthy host Mike DeAngelo noted that Brolin actually appeared on the IMDB page for "Deadpool & Wolverine," and asked the actor about it during his press run for the Prime Video series "Outer Range." The "Sicario" star responded by saying, "I so wanted to be in that movie," adding:

"[Marvel] is a more complex labyrinth than 'Outer Range' will ever be, my friend. And I will never know where that went or what that is or what I'm involved with or what I'm not involved with —the MCU being involved now. Cable was a lot of fun. I really liked doing that role. That was a lot of fun."

So it seems Brolin was never really told anything about "Deadpool & Wolverine," though as Paul Wernick noted in his IndieWire interview, none of this means we won't see his Cable in future films. Seeing as "Deadpool & Wolverine" is absolutely obliterating the box office, those future films are sure to come in abundance, so there should be ample opportunity for Brolin's Fox-era character to return. 

That said, I can't help but wonder if Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had a hand in nixing a Brolin cameo for "Deadpool & Wolverine." "Avengers: Endgame" wasn't all that long ago, and who knows, perhaps Feige had some hesitation about bringing Brolin into the MCU fold as his Fox-era character so soon after his now infamous villain was dispatched. Either way, it's not like "Deadpool & Wolverine" was lacking cameos, so maybe it's for the best.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is now playing in theaters.