Deadpool 2 Theory: Could Deadpool and Cable Secretly Be Related?

Ryan Reynolds did say it was a "family movie"

Cable Deadpool Son In Law
Fox

For a film that’s supposed to be the very antithesis of the modern superhero genre - like, not taking itself too seriously, not getting bogged down in future planning, that sort of thing - you wouldn’t think Deadpool 2 would have too many interesting threads to tug on in its aftermath. You would be quite wrong though.

Ok so, first of all, there are Deadpool 2 spoilers from this point out. Nothing that’s going to ruin the film for you entirely, but if you’ve still not seen it and you want to go in knowing as little as possible, I’d give this a miss. Don’t feel guilty though, we already have your page view.

Right so, there was a lot of chatter by you, the intent, immediately following the film’s release that Deadpool might actually be Cable’s father. It’s a bit flimsy, and never happened in the comics but there was a lot of little nods to it.

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Nods like the constant Terminator franchise homages, Cable choosing to save Deadpool’s life, Cable knowing who he is and blaming him for the future. Bit stretched yes, but all good theories usually are.

However, throw your applause at Cinema Blend, who have purported the idea that Deadpool isn’t Cable’s father, but instead, is the father of Cable's wife.

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For this you’ve got all the above evidence of Deadpool being very well known to Cable already, the decision to use his last time jump to save his life, but, crucially, that weirdly weighty line about his wife have a very similar sense of humour to Wilson.

He saves the future from Russel but, seeing that Deadpool’s died in the process, realises that he can't jump back to his own time because his wife will never have born. So, instead, he goes back in time and saves Wilson who, when he asks him why, is told simply that it's ok, because now his wife "is safe".

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This flies in the face of many plot threads from the comics, and would be a completely original narrative thread on the part of the writers, but from a storytelling perspective marries nicely with a lot of the themes of the movie.

Obviously it’s only Deadpool so it’s not like we’re looking for clues that are going to set up an entire decade of new movies but this is particularly interesting given that the writers have confirmed that the post-credits scenes are actually canon.

In the actual lore of the X-Men Film Universe, when Logan meets Wade Wilson on 3 Mile Island, another Wade Wilson shows up rom the future and shoots him in the head. Also the real-life Ryan Reynolds is dead, and Green Lantern never got made.

Crucially though, it means Vanessa isn’t actually dead. Wade travelled back to the movie's opening, saved her from getting shot, they’re probably having a baby and that baby might well be Cable’s wife. See, it all ties up nicely.

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Managing Editor
Managing Editor

WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine