Where they went wrong with Old Cable was making it all about his future/time-travel schtick in the first place. Back in the 90s, in his heyday, that was just part of his backstory. Like Weapon X to Wolverine. Meaning it had implications for him as a character, as it is part of his backstory and where his advanced technology comes from. And stories involving it certainly popped up from time to time. But it wasn’t his singular role in the books. He was another badass wild card player like Wolverine and Gambit, except he wasn’t a loner or follower like them, rather he was a leader too. Leading X-Force. But he also had his mysteries and motivations for things that he wasn’t forthcoming about. So a man of mystery, a leader, a soldier, etc., doing the same thing as most Marvel heroes do: Trying to build a better future, fight bad guys, etc.
Somewhere along the way, in the 00s, everything involving Cable became about time travel adventures. It took him out of the present day MCU and stuck him out in the timestream, where it was easy to ignore him. He wasn’t an A-player, or even a B-player. Rather he became a fringe player who only had time travel adventures and hung out with Deadpool for laughs.
Go back and read the Jeph Loeb/Steve Skroce or Ian Churchill Cable issues. Or the Casey/Ladronn issues. He was bumping into the Avengers, fighting the Hulk, visiting Wakanda, encountering both new villains and existing ones from across the broader Marvel U. He was a player. A part of the landscape.
In my view that’s where they went wrong. And there is plenty for him to do in the new Dawn of X landscape in defense of Krakoa and taking it to her enemies. See the highly underrated Si Spurrier X-Force run for Cable doing what Percy’s X-Force is doing now, years before they were doing it. Acting as the mutant CIA, gathering intelligence, doing wet works stuff, etc. He would fit right in on that team with Beast, Jean, Domino, Logan, Colossus, Forge, etc.
Restore this guy to greatness...
DB21F710-C84D-4A57-84CE-268E21C088AC.jpg