brolin
Actor Josh Brolin attends a news conference to promote the movie 'Hail, Caesar!' at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany February 11, 2016. Reuters/Stefanie Loos

The “Deadpool 2” roster has been updated with the addition of Josh Brolin. The actor, known for his roles in “Milk,” “Hollow Man,” “American Gangster,” and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), will be joining Ryan Reynolds in the sequel as Cable. The casting has been long awaited after the character’s was announced in the post-credits scene of the first “Deadpool." While the post-credits teaser initially dropped names such as Mel Gibson, Dolph Lundgren and even Kiera Knightly, Brolin ultimately beat them to the role.

For those unfamiliar with the character, Cable is a mutant in the Marvel universe. Whereas "Cable" is merely his mutant alias, the character’s real name is Nathan Summers. This links him to another mutant: Scott Summers (also known as Cyclops), his father. How the upcoming film will explore Cable’s backstory (if any) will be of interest to fans, considering the character has one of the more complex histories in the comics.

Reprising his role as the titular character in “Deadpool 2” is Ryan Reynolds. On his end, Reynolds has been keen to bring Cable to the "Deadpool" films. Both characters have often been linked together, even having their own comic book series called “Cable & Deadpool,” which ran for 50 issues before its subsequent cancellation.

The upcoming film will have David Leitch in the director’s chair. Production for the sequel is reported to take place in Vancouver and will begin in June. Also joining the cast is actress Zazie Beetz of “Atlanta” fame. She will be portraying Domino, who boasts mutant probability-altering powers and remarkable marksmanship. Additionally, she has been associated with Cable as a love interest. How the sequel will explore this romance — and how it will be developed, in the event that the angle will indeed be exploited — has yet to be seen.

News of Brolin’s casting as Cable first broke out on The Hollywood Reporter. His appearance in “Deadpool 2” will be the first in a four-film contract as his addition to the “X-Men” film series. Besides the sequel, Brolin’s other projects include “Granite Mountain,” “Soldado,” “Suburbicon,” and “The Legacy of the Whitetail Deer Hunter.”

It’s also worth noting that Brolin’s inclusion in the MCU as antagonist Thanos poses a problem to the likelihood of Deadpool joining the MCU. Seeing as Brolin portrays two different characters in both the MCU and “X-Men” film series, the notion of adding Deadpool into the MCU seems too convoluted to be a feasible possibility at this point.

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