X-Men Fan Film Features Cable in Action

[Dark Vader]

Despite the multitude of theatrical films Fox has released starring either the X-Men or characters related to the X-Men universe, one fan-favorite hero still yet to make the jump to the live-action realm is Cable, a.k.a. Nathan Summers. A time-traveling mutant cyborg, Cable made his first Marvel Comics appearance back in 1990, in an issue of The New Mutants. Son to Scott “Cyclops” Summers and a clone of Jean Grey, Cable became known to many non-comic readers via a memorable run of appearances in the popular X-Men: The Animated Series.

Cable also has as extensive comic history with Deadpool, so it’s only fitting that Cable is finally set to make his first live-action film appearance in the upcoming sequel Deadpool 2. It remains unclear at this point just who will play Cable in the movie, although Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) himself famously suggested Keira Knightley for the part in the post-credits scene of his titular outing. Rumors have circulated that creative differences as how to cast Cable played a major factor in the departure of director Tim Miller from Deadpool 2, although that remains unconfirmed.

With Deadpool 2 still over a year away, fans that have been waiting not-so-patiently to see Cable realized in live-action for decades can get their fix with the new fan film Cable: Chronicles of Hope. Running just over six minutes in total, the short is inspired by the 2010 Marvel Comics crossover X-Men: Second Coming, and features Cable and his adopted daughter Hope Summers waging war across time against the Purifiers.

Cable art X Men Marvel X Men Fan Film Features Cable in Action
In addition to Cable and Hope, other X-Men characters and props also pop in for cameos, including Bishop, Nightcrawler, and the X-Men’s Blackbird aircraft. Cable: Chronicles of Hope comes courtesy of K&K Productions, who have previously produced fan films for properties like Dragon Ball Z and Batman. As is usual for fan films, the acting in Chronicles of Hope isn’t exactly Oscar caliber, but the action scenes and effects work are very good, and look quite professional, all things considered.

With a title like Chronicles of Hope, one would assume that this is only the first planned entry in a series of Cable-fronted shorts from K&K, although they have yet to announce when or if a second installment will arrive. The short ends on a cliffhanger, though, so it would be a shame to not see the story resolved. Until then, K&K has also released a behind-the-scenes making of video on their YouTube channel that, oddly enough, actually runs nearly the twice the length of the short film itself. It’s well worth watching for anyone interested in how fan projects like this are made.