Nathan Summers, The Soldier of Tomorrow: Cable Appreciation 2023

[Havok83]

Couldnt get past the god awful art

[Charm]

Although the art could get rushed in places, I loved Kordey's Cable & Soldier X. I also liked Michael Ryan's Cable, specifically his TO arm as it looked v much alive

[Jackraow21]

Same. Loved it for the same reasons… that it looked very much techno-organic and alive versus just a bionic arm like Winter Soldier’s.

What I think would be cool is some sort of a fusion between that look and the current transmode virus look he’s been sporting…

IMG_7298.jpg

… where maybe it looks more “alive” and “cable-y” like Kordey and Ryan drew it, but with the black-with-blue-highlights coloration. Something like that might be a very cool upgrade that would make Cable look even more unique in a Marvel Universe full of character sporting generic cybernetic limbs.

[Micabe]

Same. Loved it for the same reasons… that it looked very much techno-organic and alive versus just a bionic arm like Winter Soldier’s.

What I think would be cool is some sort of a fusion between that look and the current transmode virus look he’s been sporting…

IMG_7298.jpg

… where maybe it looks more “alive” and “cable-y” like Kordey and Ryan drew it, but with the black-with-blue-highlights coloration. Something like that might be a very cool upgrade that would make Cable look even more unique in a Marvel Universe full of character sporting generic cybernetic limbs.

Meh, when I think of how Warlock can change color I prefer the silver/metallic look.

[Jackraow21]

Yeah, I get that. He had that look originally and it is his default look. Unfortunately with so many characters rocking bionic arms and limbs in the comics these days, and with the most notable of those — the Winter Soldier — having beaten Nathan to the big screen and Marvel Studios having done his cybernetic arm so well, it kind of gives Bucky first-mover advantage and puts the onus on Cable to look different… hence why I think they went the route they did in making Josh Brolin’s Cable arm look almost like strung together steel cables in Deadpool 2. And, even then, they had Deadpool make a couple of jokes about it (calling him a “grumpy old f@#$ with a Winter Solider arm” and also asking “when are audiences going to say enough already with the metal arms?”… or something along those lines).

So I think what Ewing was trying to do was make “techno-organic” actually mean something in that it doesn’t just look like a metallic bionic/cybernetic arm, rather it looks almost alien-like. And more like the Transmode virus source code that it’s derived from. In my mind a talented artist could draw up something that blends both the more “alive” and “knotted cables” look of the Kordey/Ryan depictions with the Warlock-y Transmode virus look that Ewing has given him in X-men Red. Best of both worlds. I can envision it in my head but admittedly am not much of an artist, otherwise I’d take a stab at it.

Regardless, that’s kind of my thinking on it… Cable’s lost some of his uniqueness because of all the copycats stealing his schtick, and especially the Winter Soldier. Thus they ought to lean into a more unique aesthetic for him IMO. Show him as truly “the solider of tomorrow” in that his physiology is almost alien like in its “tomorrow-ness”, as opposed to something that a Cold War relic could also be sporting.

[K7P5V]

Meh, when I think of how Warlock can change color I prefer the silver/metallic look.

Personally, the Sam Kieth version would be my preference...

Yeah, I get that. He had that look originally and it is his default look. Unfortunately with so many characters rocking bionic arms and limbs in the comics these days, and with the most notable of those — the Winter Soldier — having beaten Nathan to the big screen and Marvel Studios having done his cybernetic arm so well, it kind of gives Bucky first-mover advantage and puts the onus on Cable to look different… hence why I think they went the route they did in making Josh Brolin’s Cable arm look almost like strung together steel cables in Deadpool 2. And, even then, they had Deadpool make a couple of jokes about it (calling him a “grumpy old f@#$ with a Winter Solider arm” and also asking “when are audiences going to say enough already with the metal arms?”… or something along those lines).

So I think what Ewing was trying to do was make “techno-organic” actually mean something in that it doesn’t just look like a metallic bionic/cybernetic arm, rather it looks almost alien-like. And more like the Transmode virus source code that it’s derived from. In my mind a talented artist could draw up something that blends both the more “alive” and “knotted cables” look of the Kordey/Ryan depictions with the Warlock-y Transmode virus look that Ewing has given him in X-men Red. Best of both worlds. I can envision it in my head but admittedly am not much of an artist, otherwise I’d take a stab at it.

Regardless, that’s kind of my thinking on it… Cable’s lost some of his uniqueness because of all the copycats stealing his schtick, and especially the Winter Soldier. Thus they ought to lean into a more unique aesthetic for him IMO. Show him as truly “the solider of tomorrow” in that his physiology is almost alien like in its “tomorrow-ness”, as opposed to something that a Cold War relic could also be sporting.

For what it's worth, I'll always love the time Cable met "pre-Winter Soldier" Bucky

[Jackraow21]

Yeah, I’d be super happy if Cable’s MCU look had his techno-organic arm/torso looking like Sam Kieth drew it! That would be rad.

[Charm]

Yeah, I’d be super happy if Cable’s MCU look had his techno-organic arm/torso looking like Sam Kieth drew it! That would be rad.

Nah, not for me - too steamy punky. Needs to look as tho it's got a mind of its own which Cable has to fight against. The transmode look is a step in the right direction but - too smooth .

[Jackraow21]

I feel like Sam Kieth’s rendition above is exactly what you describe… weird in texture, like it’s almost alive, and a bunch of knotted together metal cables. But maybe taking that latter aesthetic and making it black and blue and more transmode/Technarch like in appearance would be the way to go.

[Jackraow21]

So… thoughts on this, Cable fans…

IMG_3071.jpg

… from X-men Red #13, “the being which was Xilo” is contemplating its survival, and realizing it “requires a fusion” and is “considering candidates.” Well… we remember what happened in the Sins of Sinister timeline, right? He merged with Xilo and became the 616 version of X-man. And there were hints that some things we saw happen in that timeline, especially Year 10, would come to pass in this timeline. This could be one of those things and it certainly feels like Al Ewing is teeing it up for future follow up.

Personally I think it could be cool, depending on how it’s handled. A bit of a status quo shift for Cable, but he’s a character for whom the only constant is change. Just look at how many times his powers have been altered over the years… from displaying no powers at all early on to being a very powerful TP/TK to replacing those powers with technology for a time (after Deadpool lobotomized him to keep his out-of-control raw power from burning him out in Cable & Deadpool), to getting them back, and then losing them again, and regaining them… to now having “mastery over his T-O virus” and being able to create weapons and armor from it… at least when aided by Khora of the Burning Heart (see XMR #10 for details). The guy is constantly reinventing himself anyway.

In my mind Xilo becomes a replacement for his onboard A.I. program, which he gifted to his younger self anyway when he sent him back to the future (though he stupidly came back recently and got captured in X-men #24 by Nimrod and Orchis). A living computer with quantum processing capabilities, that Nathan talks to the same way he did Belle, or before that The Professor program/“Prosh”. But he also comes with other upgrades as well, such as the ability to regenerate.

Now… what happens to his T-O virus in that instance, and his natural mutant gifts? Good question. I’m sure if Al Ewing does this, he’s got some interesting ideas that will make Nathan more unique than just another generic mutant with psychic powers.

[Diammandis]

So… thoughts on this, Cable fans…

IMG_3071.jpg

… from X-men Red #13, “the being which was Xilo” is contemplating its survival, and realizing it “requires a fusion” and is “considering candidates.” Well… we remember what happened in the Sins of Sinister timeline, right? He merged with Xilo and became the 616 version of X-man. And there were hints that some things we saw happen in that timeline, especially Year 10, would come to pass in this timeline. This could be one of those things and it certainly feels like Al Ewing is teeing it up for future follow up.

Personally I think it could be cool, depending on how it’s handled. A bit of a status quo shift for Cable, but he’s a character for whom the only constant is change. Just look at how many times his powers have been altered over the years… from displaying no powers at all early on to being a very powerful TP/TK to replacing those powers with technology for a time (after Deadpool lobotomized him to keep his out-of-control raw power from burning him out in Cable & Deadpool), to getting them back, and then losing them again, and regaining them… to now having “mastery over his T-O virus” and being able to create weapons and armor from it… at least when aided by Khora of the Burning Heart (see XMR #10 for details). The guy is constantly reinventing himself anyway.

In my mind Xilo becomes a replacement for his onboard A.I. program, which he gifted to his younger self anyway when he sent him back to the future (though he stupidly came back recently and got captured in X-men #24 by Nimrod and Orchis). A living computer with quantum processing capabilities, that Nathan talks to the same way he did Belle, or before that The Professor program/“Prosh”. But he also comes with other upgrades as well, such as the ability to regenerate.

Now… what happens to his T-O virus in that instance, and his natural mutant gifts? Good question. I’m sure if Al Ewing does this, he’s got some interesting ideas that will make Nathan more unique than just another generic mutant with psychic powers.

oh its def going to be interesting to see if Ewing picks back up the seeds he planted in the SoS timeline, the Xilo/Cable fusion is something that is interesting for both characters and can lead to some cool stories. With the Genesis War starting up and Cable fighting against the CoTV and Orchis this development really comes at such an good time.

[Jackraow21]

Agreed. Plus, with all the A.I. push in the real world today, it almost feels like having a simple onboard A.I. program isn’t future forward enough for a guy like Nathan, who grew up thousands of years in the future and has been “here and there and back again” so many times. Co-opting a living technology in the form of the omega mutant Xilo, who I see as more of a living history with vast — almost quantum like — computational power (not to mention regeneration abilities), would be so very like Cable IMO… the dude is always trying to up his game.

[Jackraow21]

Nevermind. It appears it’s probably The Fisher King who merges with Xilo in this timeline, and not Cable.

One thing about Ewing’s work, at least for me, is that it’s not all that unpredictable from the solicits and other hints to suss out what’s coming. And as another poster pointed out, it seems pretty obvious that it’s Fisher King + Xilo, giving the combined entity some new abilities.

[Micabe]

What do you mean by this timeline? Please remind us in which timeline Nathan merges with Xilo...

[Jackraow21]

It was in the Sins of Sinister timeline. By Year 10 they had merged at some point.