We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.
It's hard to bring up the X-Men without at some point coming to the character of Cable. There are two reactions to the fan favorite character that you will elicit. Either someone will completely lose interest in what you are telling them, which is called giving someone "Verticable", or you'll hook them so much that they'll want to borrow several volumes of X-men comics before they leave.
That's the power of Cable, and such a notable character was bound to go through his share of redesigns. That is indeed the case for the time-traveling X-Man, who was introduced back in New Mutants Vol. 1 issue 87 in 1990 and was created by popular artist Rob Liefeld. Over the years he's gone from gun loving fan of shoulder pads to modern vigilante to time traveling warrior, with a variety of pitstops in between. Whichever side of the character you prefer, you will agree he definitely makes a story more interesting. It might be a convoluted mess by story's end grant you, but it will certainly be entertaining.
Everyone has their favorite, which might be the blue "what is that vest thing" look of the New Mutants or the "is that Solid Snake?" vibe of modern X-Force. It also could be the X-Men themed yellow and blue or the "Brother Cable" alternate universe version, a version that ruled over a weaponless utopia. Hit the next slide to see which one takes top honors in ComicBook.com's list of the best Cable costumes!
Cable will be played by actor Josh Brolin on the big screen in the anticipated Deadpool 2, which also stars Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson/Deadpool), T.J. Miller (Weasel), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead), Zazie Beetz (Domino), Karan Soni (Dopinder), Stefan Kapicic (Colossus), and Leslie Uggams (Blind Al).
Logan is in theaters now, followed by an unknown project dated for July 14, 2017. Another untitled project hits on October 6, 2017, which leads us to what many suspect to be Deadpool 2's slot on March 2, 2018. Finally, the June 29, 2018 date is likely to be the landing place for New Mutants or the rumored X-Force project. It could also be an open slot for another in the core X-Men franchise.
Speaking of dated looks, welcome to the New Mutants era. Here Cable sports a windbreaker vest no shirt combo that would the style envy of, wait for it, no one.
Granted in some instances it is actually drawn more like armor, but in others, it looks as if the only thing it can defend against is a light breeze. Even with the armor, is this thing really stopping a bullet? If anything Cable just decided one day to always wear his floatation device, just in case.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Marvel Now X-Force Variant 2
This costume could also be described as "the one that looks like Solid Snake" because all he's missing is the obnoxious mustache to be a dead ringer. The bandana, the eye patch, and all the camo fits with Solid Snake, but on Cable? Not so much.
The idea of grounding him a bit more in practical garb is solid, but it just makes him look straight out of an 80's action movie. That ordinarily wouldn't be a bad thing, but here it just feels off. It's like someone is playing "Cable" dress up as opposed to it actually being Cable.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Split Second
This is how you ground a costume in reality without making it look like Sylvester Stallone's discarded outfits from Cobra. The look came courtesy of the series Deadpool and Cable Split Second, and features a modern blue and silver color scheme with "angry man beard" thrown in for good measure.
While more practical, it doesn't exactly stand out though, hence why it isn't higher on the list.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
X-Man
This has 1990's written all over it, but like many costumes during the era, there's just something about it that works. Save for that weird codpiece (seriously, what was that?), the all blue with accents of yellow jacket combo is perfect for the depiction of Nathan Grey, a version of Cable from the timeline of Age of Apocalypse.
In this universe the character was never inflicted with the technovirus, so he's at peak power levels. He's also much younger, and the costume represents that to a tee. The costume looked great in action as well, especially against the 616 version of Cable, who isn't too happy to see an alternate version of himself on earth.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Uncanny X-Men Yellow And Blue
This is one of those guilty pleasure costumes. The look works as a whole, as Cable wears the bright yellow and blue of the 1990's X-Men team. He even has a similar belt and buckle design to his dad, Cyclops, and in motion, the costume goes quite well with his silver cybernetic arm.
Still, there's something about Cable that doesn't jive with the whole "everyone has a similar uniform thing", and this look is nowadays more known for appearing in the Marvel Vs Capcom series than in the comics. Still, the costume does let someone know they are looking at an X-Man, at least at the time, and that did seem to be the goal during this era.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
X-Cutioner's Song
This is the Cable many will remember. Obnoxiously large shoulder pads, blue and brown color scheme and enough guns to start his own branch of the NRA. Sure it also suffers from an overabundance of pouches, though to be fair where the heck is he suppose to hold all of those bullets right?
Issues aside, the look works extremely well on the comics page, and combined with the ridiculous nature of Cable's arsenal it all comes together perfectly.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Marvel Now X-Force Variant 1
The premise here is perhaps stronger than the actual costume, but the outfit still deserves to be on the list. The idea for this look came from Cable's ridding himself of the technovirus, which allowed him more use of his powers but also left him with several hurdles to overcome, including an eye that didn't work anymore and an atrophied arm from lack of use.
That's why he has the tech eye patch and a mechanical arm, which makes up for those defects. The silver with orange accents was a theme of the X-Force team at the time, but combined with the blue LED's the costume really shined on its own, and when you weigh in the premise it all comes together quite nicely.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Hope Cable
This look is possibly known by other nicknames as well, such as Wolf and Cub. 2 Time Travellers and a Baby, and Quantum Babyleap. Okay, some of those weren't things before now, but you are free to use them as you wish.
This was during the time when Cable was traveling through time, protecting baby Hope from Bishop, who believed she was the conduit for the world's destruction. He would often carry her in a compartment attached to his chest, and at one point even has it to where she is completely cloaked in armor to protect her. Overall the look works on a few levels, and the storyline gave Cable a renewed purpose.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Second Coming
There is something about the rugged time traveler shtick that just works, and it's not any different for Cable. During the Second Coming storyline where Hope and Cable are reunited, Cable adopts a costume that blends his futuristic elements with rugged warrior visuals, including a worn cloak.
Rule of thumb here, almost everyone looks better with a cloak. Granted, this is approaching poncho territory, but it still works and paired with the darker blue and silver of his arm, this costume is one of the best Cable designs in years.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Tech Cable
During the Modern era of Marvel (but before Marvel NOW), Cable got a tech-focused redesign with modern lines and a slick color palette. The costume features an all blue armored body suit with yellow cable lines flowing at different points in the suit. His cybernetic arm provides the perfect balance to all the blue and yellow, and it's by far the best costume the character has worn in some time.
It made him feel like an important character every time he entered the room and someone in authority. Sadly this costume went away after a short while, but hopefully, fans get more like this in the future.
(Photo: Marvel Comics)
Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.