supposed to be the strongest mutant ever then because of his techno virus hes kinda the weakest......also now hope summers is supposed to be the strongest one because the phoenix made her(avx number 12 or was it 11, i think it says in 12)

....you have no idea how much fun it was trying to guess the end of that sentence while the page was loading.

Cuz Cable is a badass

lol aww

but if he didnt have the t-virus he would have been much cooler and less old.....he should be in his 30's not 50's lol

@hopesummersforthefuture: Eh, it's just his story. It does get old.

the techno virus holds his powers in check, without it he would be super duper powerful. but that makes him more normal, and thus easier to write, its his weakness which all good characters need. I like him, and the Virus and 50's seem about right considering when he came from the future to the present he was suppose to be older the his parents, so prolly mid to late 30's then and thats been a long time ago lol

Cable is hot.

hahaha..this made me spit wine all over myself. totally worth showing up.

Fun facts; The original, authorial intention for Cable was that he was just a mercenary from the future. He was supposed to be just a guy who interacts with whole Marvel universe and was never really specifically supposed to be a mutant, I guess you could say he was supposed to be like a Jonah Hex type character for Marvel.

If I remember right he was supposed to come from the future where Kang the Conqueror ruled, not Apocalypse. Making him patently more tied to the Fantastic Four than the X-Men really. It's also ironic that his name wound being Nathaniel, seeing as that is the name of Reed Richards father, who Cable used to bear a striking resemblance to....the armor he used to wear was very similar to Nathaniel Richards "psi armor". Actually, do you see the baby in the image below? That image is from John Byrnes run on Fantastic Four where Reeds father lives in an alternate future and sired children with some warrior women (template for Askani). Perhaps Liefeld (Cables creator) intended for Cable to be that baby.

They wound up retconning him into Cyclops and Madelyne's son and naturally having to give him telekinetic powers of some kind seeing as that what he had as a baby. So, it's sort of a stupid retcon, considering in a story like "X-tinction Agenda" all the mutants get their powers shut off and Cable is running around fine (nobody knew if he was a mutant or not at the time) when he should have just fallen apart. Oh well though, that's Marvel for you.

Looks just like Stryfe.....

@cattlebattle: I read on the Uncannyxmen.net site an interview where some one said he had originally (once he was brought into the New mutants) suppose to be Cannonball from the future

Nah, that's not true. Or, at least I have never read that, you maybe right, I don't know. One writer, either Lobdell or Loeb, had the idea that Cannonball was an External and was a great military leader in the future that trained Cable.....which would have been a neat little time-paradox plot detail as Cable trained him in the past so he can train him in the future. Though, they scrapped that altogether a long time ago and Cannonball is just plain old Cannonball.

@cattlebattle: I remember this. Actually in another thread I highlighted sone of this. In fact another bit of evidence...if you will, is in Uncanny Xmen End of Greys, when Rachel wondered why the Shiar didn't go after Cable. At this point I wonder if things could be retconned back to what he was originally supposed to be. I know it would piss off some Cable fans but really I wonder how many of those we have left. This could be a nice way to bring the fantastic four back and do away with some of the convolution plaguing the xmen. (Ehhh not really) But if might be kind of cool to have Cable be what he was supposed to be in the 1st place

Claremont wrote "End of Greys" I believe, and it was also him who introduced the Askani originally in X-Factor..So perhaps he wanted to honor Liefelds intended origin. Honestly, it would be too difficult to do away with Cable back story at this point. Too much of it is too ingrained to everything. Although I would support it, because I have never really cared for Cable. And I am probably in a very, very, small minority here, but I have never really cared for the whole Apocalypse ruling in the future business. Kang already does that. Marvel already has that character. I have no problem with him being a long lived character from Ancient Egypt, but I always just thought that coming up with the idea of Cable fighting Apocalypse in the future was little lazy and tacked on.

@cattlebattle:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/10/05/comic-book-legends-revealed-387/

tis true

@cattlebattle: I agree. I do like the glimpse of how things would look if Apocalypse gets his way but the ruling thing was always kind of enceoching on Kang. Really Cable has always been cast in offshoot type books and roles so I'm not really sure how ingrained he really is as far as being a Summers. He could play the same role with Xforce and all but everyone doesn't have to be a Summers right? Lol. Yea it would upset the balance of things but with all the time travel it could easily be explained that something got crossed up and he thought he was but he wasn't somewhat like that bs they just pulled with Wanda and Pietro although that went over horribly.

Nah, at this point retconning Cable out of his Summers origin would be a very bad move. And an unnecessary one. Besides, Reed's father was overexposed by Hickman in both of his SHIELD and FF runs, and I'll tell you something, he also replaced the uber mutant from alternate future with the adult version of Franklin, whom he considers the next universe's Galactus. Of course, none of this canon (whatever happens in an AF) and each writer has his own ultimate future, but the interactions they have with the main continuity are canon and they shouldn't be ignored.

What Cable needs is not a rehash in his already convoluted origins, but a good and cohesive story that will finally update him and make him usable in the present WITHOUT taking away what his character stands for. And I'll tell you something, either of the last of his X-forces made a terrible job at both.

Love how this thread went from how powerful is Cable to is Cable actually a Summers...

@koays: it was fun wasn't it

Hes not the strongest mutant there are lots above him.

@mcklayn:

Eh, I have also read on CBR that Louise Simonson and Liefeld, Cable's creators, have said that rumor was false. Liefeld even has an editorial on his official site where discusses Cables origin and makes no mention of that. I am just going to go ahead and call that one a fan theory.

I think you're really playing down the relevance of the Summer family in Cable's history. Not only was he essentially a creation of Mr Sinister, sired by Cyclops, to fight Apocalypse, but also the fact that Rachel Summers is mother Askani in the future and has a blood relation to Cable is significant. Even when Cable had his own solo series there was frequent appearances by Rachel, Cyclops and Jean. Then, later in his series he would wield his psychic scimitar, which was apart of his psychic abilities, which ties him to the Summers/ Grey family as I don't think he was originally supposed to have any powers. Basically, his relation to the Summers family is a huge part of his existence, whether he is on an X-related team or on his own.

The reason why Wanda and Pietro were easier to retcon is because despite the fact that they all have been around for 50+ years, Magneto, Wanda and Pietro haven't had a ton of interaction throughout that time; e.g., during the 1980s, they only probably interacted once or twice, and in the 90s, they only interacted during line wide crossovers every couple of years. I know X-Men fans like to ignore it, but Quickslver and Wanda have always been a lot more important to the Avengers and Inhumans than the X-men lore. Cable, on the other hand, is always a huge part of the X-Men mythology, and his relation to the Summers family is what makes his importance to the continuity so potent.

Cable ( Nathan Summers ) is the child of Madelyn Pryor and Sebastian Shaw

@cattlebattle: Ehhh...Like I said I don't really see Cable as all that important. Let me say though that I wouldn't necessarily be greatly in favor of retconning him, it just further complicates things and that's part of the problem as it is. I really think he shouldn't be so overpowered which he hasn't been in a long time. I think he should have some limited precognition able to see maybe a few minutes into the future which could be useful in hand to hand or even in planning an attack. Also some telekinesis would be good though he should have to sort of recharge and conserve it or else it becomes sporadic and unreliable. Let him exist with these powers and just go from there no more terminator stuff. Maybe have him try and do some type of Askani school or run Genosha like he did Providence back in the day

@cattlebattle: I originally read it on an Interview with liefeld on uncanny X men .net but i just didnt fill like trying to shift through the archives to find it so i googled lol thats the i got

@mcklayn said:

I have just never really seen Liefeld or Simonson talk about that in interviews. They have discussed other plans they had for him, like being related to Kang or him actually being Stryfe. I don't think I have ever seen that Cannonball theory aside from there.

Well yeah, retconnning him would just be a terrible idea at this point. Way too much stuff has gone on with characters like Apocalypse, Sinister, Cyclops and Stryfe that was sort of centered around or spun off of his existence.

Lots? Legion....and?

@koays:

Franky. They can't hide him forever, one day he will have to face his mutie fate. And since the FF days of privilege are apparently old news, I totally sense the happy days of white exemption becoming old as well lmao

Franklin Richards, Hope, Legion, Iceman, Mr. M, Squirrel Girl, Storm, A-Poc

Franklin- Sure
Hope- Actually burns out of the powers she's copied, so unless she's got prep and friends...
Legion- Sure
Iceman- Nope
Mr. M.- Maybe....
Squirrel Girl- -_- No comment
Storm- Nope
Apocalypse- No way

Unchecked Cable has been called the strongest telepath on the planet repeatedly, possesses TK on a level that allows him to constantly restrain his T.O. virus subconciously and a couple of times even purge it completely. He's repeatedly held up city size objects casually, once while Silver Surfer was trying to kill him. And he's got feats of short range time travel to go along with his more powerful latent time travel abilities. Unless they possess some form of time travel, reality altering or a combination of TP and molecular abilities, he's probably stronger then them. And that's ignoring the fact that if we allow him to go by as much of his hype as some of these other characters do then he's even stronger, rivaling or even surpassing Shaman Nate Grey.

@cattlebattle that is a very disturbing picture OMG is that stryfe what is he going to do to that poor baby or is that alternate universe version of stryfe where he is good? who is that baby? i know apocalyse claimed stryfe as a baby which is why he became horrible but that is a disturbing picture

No, it's Reed Richards father holding his own child. I think Rob Liefield used him as a template for Stryfe seeing as Cable was originally supposed to be tied to the Richards family in some way.

everyone in the x men did back then

@koays: how the hell is apocalypse not above cable, isn't apocalypse the one person he was trying to kill for years and if he's more powerful how come he's never been able to overpower apocalypse ???

@cattlebattle said:

Fun facts; The original, authorial intention for Cable was that he was just a mercenary from the future. He was supposed to be just a guy who interacts with whole Marvel universe and was never really specifically supposed to be a mutant, I guess you could say he was supposed to be like a Jonah Hex type character for Marvel.

If I remember right he was supposed to come from the future where Kang the Conqueror ruled, not Apocalypse. Making him patently more tied to the Fantastic Four than the X-Men really. It's also ironic that his name wound being Nathaniel, seeing as that is the name of Reed Richards father, who Cable used to bear a striking resemblance to....the armor he used to wear was very similar to Nathaniel Richards "psi armor". Actually, do you see the baby in the image below? That image is from John Byrnes run on Fantastic Four where Reeds father lives in an alternate future and sired children with some warrior women (template for Askani). Perhaps Liefeld (Cables creator) intended for Cable to be that baby.

They wound up retconning him into Cyclops and Madelyne's son and naturally having to give him telekinetic powers of some kind seeing as that what he had as a baby. So, it's sort of a stupid retcon, considering in a story like "X-tinction Agenda" all the mutants get their powers shut off and Cable is running around fine (nobody knew if he was a mutant or not at the time) when he should have just fallen apart. Oh well though, that's Marvel for you.

I realize their was once a huge debate about this, but Louise Simonson was Cable's creator. Liefield just drew him, with the usual big shoulder pads, because the guy can't draw...well, much of anything, but shoulders in particular at the time.

@prophetvivec36: tbh thats the way its should be, raises peoples standards

Pardon if this doesn't make much sense seeing as i'm not sober and comicvine decided to send this to me as an email (anyone else having this problem?).

Theres alot of responses I want to give-
What ability does Apocalypse have that puts him over a full powered Cable?
What immunity does Apocalypse have that puts him over a full powered Cable?
What feat does Apocalypse have that puts him over a full powered Cable?
Has Apocalypse ever beaten a full powered Cable?
What does the fact that he's been trying to kill Apocalypse for years have to do with anything? Hasn't Apocalypse been trying to kill Cable since he was a baby and failing? Wasn't their entire battle a long running game of chess pitting Time Travel against Celestial Ressurection an machines?

As far as I can recall at the moment Apocalypse doesn't have offensive feats that can compare with Cable's raw strength at full power. And the majority of difficulty people have when dealing with him is getting pass his shields, Durability, and minions.

I hate to use silly battle board logic here, but Cable has feats, and Apocalypse has hype. He conquers timelines without having to explain how he does it so we assume he's strong...but God Cable's hype is star destroying level.

Add to that the fact that Apocalypse relies heavily on his tech for most of his accomplishments while super strength and regen tend to be his best moves...and its hard to think that if you left these too alone on the moon 1v1 without any tech Amps, Cable would fail to beat him.

@koays:

I think it's actually credited that both Simonson and Lifield created Cable, but due to Lifield taking control of the New Mutants series when Cable is more prominently featured, it's recognized as more of his character. The concept of him being from a timeline controlled by Kang and being a mercenary was his idea and he has done both Cable and Deadpool solo series where the characters are accredited as being "his".

That is a problem with major Marvel and DC comics.....although someone creates a character, or originally draws a character, it doesn't always mean that they could be credited with giving the character life. Like how Cables famous connection with the Summers family and Sinister and Apocalypse came from later writers and neither Simonson or Liefeld.

Cable is great without the virus. Prob omega level

Back when it was a big deal my understanding was that Simonson actually created the character with some input from Liefield, but I guess only the two of them will ever really know for sure. Though I think most of us would agree that Liefield is a self aggrandizing, slightly dishonest type of guy, so... You make a good point about the later writers and the Summers connection.

Add Exodus to this list. Not Cable's match in telepathy perhaps but he makes up for it with a healing factor, teleporting, flying at Mach speeds, psionic energy siphoning.

Not even, I'd argue that telepathy is about the only thing that he can potentially match him in.

By statements Cable is a Starbuster, by feats he's at or around "no chill" Silver Surfer level. GodCable is above anyone listed who's not a reality warper to some degree.

Hypothetical, never once actually realised, GodCable is not who we are talking about.

If not God Cable, who is Cable at his strongest power levels....then what's the point of the discussion? The challenge was about whether there were lots of mutants above him on a list of strongest mutants....the only reason he is on that list is because of his full capabilities.

At his full capacities in the actual comics. Not a fantastical Cable that he could have been if the technovirus had never come along and he spent the same time developing his TK that Nate Grey did. The guy from Providence could take on the Silver Surfer, yes but only once. That burned him out pretty quickly. Exodus and Apocalypse can keep coming back.

Well that's inaccurate. We've seen the unchecked power of Cable in more then just his time on Providence. And even then keep in mind the scale of what he was doing before that fight, and even during it.

This isn't some Cable that exist solely as a "what if" scenario or a statement of potential. We know what he can do, he's done it in his solo and feature books which make it a point to showcase his power when not restricted and we know that its at a higher range then the feats that they have.

Maybe if the discussion were framed differently then Apocalypse could be placed above him...but the question is who's stronger and unless every instance of Cable being unrestricted by his virus is thrown out, and every statement of what he CAN(not could) do is ignored then I have to stand by the statement that the strongest we've seen Cable in continuity is solidly above Apocalypse and Exodus.