Cable Creator Rob Liefeld Shares Hysterical Captain America: Civil War Story

After attending the premiere of Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool and Cable creator Rob Liefeld had a funny moment with his son who thought he stole the idea of a metal arm of Cable from the Winter Soldier.

Liefeld, who is ecstatic about the first look of Cable being revealed earlier today (and the fan reaction, to match), shared the story of his son’s reaction to the Winter Soldier while talking to ComicBook.com.

“My son and I went and saw the world premiere of Civil War; Marvel was kind enough to invite us,” Liefeld said. “And we saw it, we loved it, we partied, everything. We get in the car to go home, and he turns over to me, and I kid you not, I almost drove off the freeway, ‘Hey Dad, did you steal that robot arm for Cable from Winter Soldier?’”

Naturally, the man responsible for spawning Cable in the 1990 issue #87 of New Mutants had some explaining to do. “And I was like, ‘What!?!’ I’m like, ‘Listen here, Chase’ — I was like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to that kid in the cockpit in Airplane to my own son,” Liefeld said. “I said, ‘You listen here, kid. Cable predates Winter Soldier by 13 years.’”

“The concern for everybody was that you’ve already got a guy with a bionic arm in the Marvel pantheon. Winter Soldier beat Cable to screen. So that arm, with all those different coils and that different design… He’s different, you know. And he’s exciting. And it looks a little more unwieldy. You’re kind of like, ‘That’s a cool looking arm.’ So, you know, take that Winter Soldier.”

Liefeld’s Reaction

Like most fans of Cable (which Liefeld is allowed to be, despite creating the character), Liefeld avidly approves of the look. 

“The detail is crazy,” Liefeld said. “But for me it always starts with the face. You’ve got to nail the look on the face, that’s what we identify with.”

Liefeld created Cable with multiple visual cues, but one in particular stands out to him. “And that scar, come on, take a deep look at that scar,” he added. “That is one wonderful work of art.”

Liefeld was arguably the biggest cheerleader for the first Deadpool movie and Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal of the character, so his reaction to Cable’s appearance might be causing a slight case of deja vu.

“All I’m getting is just euphoria, euphoria, euphoria; people are so thrilled. Just the face, he’s got that stubble, I mean, he’s grizzled. And again, you know he’s going to kill, he’s Josh Brolin. This is not an unknown actor. He is such a fantastic actor. He nails it, and come on that sizable gun he’s wielding, that bionic arm.”

Fan Reactions

“This is Cable,” Liefeld said. “Fandom can create their own burden, and I’m going back to Michael Keaton getting cast as Batman. You remember all of the fans exploding, “How can you cast Mr. Mom as Batman?” And that was a big deal. Back then they had to address you on Entertainment Tonight, not Twitter. But the fans have to be accounted for, you can’t ignore them. So I think when you open the oven and out comes that version of Josh Brolin as Cable, let’s give some applause to the cooks.”

Liefeld is ready to credit those cooks, himself. “My boy Bill Corso — even Ryan [Reynolds] was praising him on Instagram with me,” Liefeld said. “Bill is the make-up designer on Blade Runner II. He was on The Force Awakens. He did Kong: Skull Island. This guy is just sick talented. So the makeup design, I believe in giving artists their credit. I mean first you’ve got to cast the right guy, and Josh came out yoked. He started out Josh Brolin and came out Lou Ferrigno. He’s so bulked up.”

“I just think with how well he has come out looking, again, that they take this stuff seriously,” Liefeld said. “Fandom is such that they always go, ‘Well, yeah, that worked, but what’s next?’ They’re hard to please. I’ve been a fan, I know what it’s like. But I just think Cable — this is a great day. They nailed it, they showed it to the world, and they presented it wonderfully.”

Deadpool 2 hits theaters on June 1, 2018.

More Deadpool 2

Ryan Reynolds will return as Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth. For the sequel, he’ll be joined by Josh Brolin as Cable. Cable was co-created by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson. He has often been paired with Deadpool as his grim, serious demeanor serves as the perfect foil to Deadpool’s crude and zany humor. The duo headlined an ongoing comic book series, Cable & Deadpool, for 50 issues. Jack Kesy has been cast in an undisclosed villain role, speculated to be Black Tom Cassidy. Shioli Kutsuna has also joined the production in an undisclosed “key” role.

Deadpool 2 hits theaters June 1, 2018.