Gerry Duggan's Cable Smells Like (Mutant) Teen Spirit
by Dave RichardsIn the 2018 X-Men event Extermination, the time-traveling soldier Cable was slain by a younger version of himself. That execution ignited a storyline filed with dystopian threats, but it also gave Marvel's mutants a chance to forge a better life. They recently used that opportunity to build themselves an island nation, Krakoa, now home to the teenage version of Cable, whose second chance at adolescence will be chronicled in a new ongoing series.
Writer Gerry Duggan and artist Phil Noto will kick off Nate Summers' adventures in March's Cable #1. CBR spoke with Duggan about the series, which follows Cable and a whole host of mutant friends as they attempt to live their best lives and make the most of their new home.
CBR: You enjoyed writing the older version of Cable in Deadpool and Uncanny Avengers, but what made this younger version of the character interesting to you?
Gerry Duggan: I love experienced heroes, and historically Cable has been sort of a gruff, field general and soldier; a Clint Eastwood type. He's not that guy right now, but that means we can have a lot of other fun. Part of that fun is giving all of these characters gifts that they didn't have or were lacking. We're trying to give Nate the childhood that he missed out on. He's obviously part of the sort of “Camelot” family of Krakoa.
Let's talk about that movie poster-style cover that Phil Noto did for Issue 1. It reminded me of an '80s action movie. Is that what you're looking to do with Cable?
Yeah, really what I'm trying to do on Cable is set up Phil Noto and then get out of his way. The '80s were formative years for Phil and I, though. We grew up watching movies like Big Trouble in Little China and Shane Black's early work. It was fun stuff, and we're just trying to have fun right now. I think we're succeeding, and I think Cable is going to be a really big book for that reason.
In the book, Cable is in a relationship with the Five-in-One, and who the black clad Cuckoo is at that time determines what kind of date he's on. So, Cable is a solo book, but we're rolling in a lot of young, fun characters.
It sounds then like this is a book whose DNA includes X-Men, '80s action and Archie Comics.
Yeah, I think that's a fair comparison. There's also more mystery in the book than we're letting on. You see Cable with a sword on the second issue cover. He's going to wield that for a little while. That will lead into some action and some intrigue. Then there's a crime that happens and attracts Cable to it. He feels personally invested in seeing justice there. So, by the end of the first issue you'll have an idea of the tone we're aiming for and by the end of the second issue you'll have a very good sense of what kind of story we're telling. We're trying to be fun, and add, not destroy things.
It sounds like there might some similarities to what you're doing in Marauders, but there's also a strong youthful sensibility.
You'll for sure see some young mutant about in Cable, but you'll see them in other books as well. Vita [Ayala] is writing some young heroes in Children of the Atom. Obviously, Jonathan [Hickman] has some young heroes whenever he wants in X-Men. We'll also have a youth movement in Marauders.
I don't do anything lightly, even though there might be some humor to it. People can sometimes discount humor, even though it is harder to write. I know what I'm doing, though. I know all the cannon we're taking on by having Nate Summers date the clones of Emma Frost. That's going to be fun. We're doing a deep dive into adolescence in Cable. I remember what it's like to be a teen, but I'm also very close to having a teen myself. So it's fun to be able to find that energy and put it into the work.
Can you talk any more about the supporting characters we'll see regularly in Cable?
The first thing I did when Phil and I got the gig was we sat and talked. I asked him, “Who do you want to draw? Are there any young mutants you want to work on?” He mentioned characters like Pixie. So Armor and Pixie open things up, and then the Five-in-One come in Issue 2. And we pick up more mutants in Issue 3.
Cable was supposed to be a sort of low impact “cheat” day for me in front of my computer. It's where I'm not managing a team book. Team books require a certain amount of extra brain power that I don't always have. I've accidentally blundered into a third team book with Cable. [Laughs]
It can be tough sometimes to juggle casts in team books. The nice thing about this series, though, is, regardless of the mutants he's paired with, Cable is the star of the show. He's in the spotlight and that spotlight will inevitably fall across some really cool characters, and some pretty unexpected ones as well.
Can you tell us any more about these unexpected characters?
Part of me is itching to do an all-Duggan crossover. At the moment, I have the keys to a number of interesting cars in the Marvel Universe and I might want to crash them together.
I also wanted to ask you about some of the villains in this series. Is that a new version of the Silver Samurai on the cover of Issue 1?
Yeah, we'll see what role he's found for himself on Krakoa. It's pretty cool. If you go back and look at Jonathan's map of Krakoa, there are still some places that we haven't been. We'll visit one of those locations in our first issue.
I understand Phil's adopting a more painterly approach for Cable. Will it be somewhat similar to what he did with Black Widow?
That's right. There's a little bit of an asterisk there, but it very much is a painterly tier that you're getting. You'll see him flex some other muscles with some of what we're doing.
I imagine a lot of people are wondering what the Cable and Deadpool friendship looks like now. Is that something you're interested in exploring with this book?
That would be a hoot! I haven't written Deadpool at all for so long now that I feel the atrophy. I've really loved what Skottie [Young], Kelly [Thompson], and their collaborators have done with Deadpool. So, every once in a while I feel the urge to slip back into my red pajamas.
I don't have any plans for Deadpool, and I'd hate to promise something and have it never show up. He would make a lot of sense in Cable though or even Savage Avengers. So you never know. Maybe if I go all out on that All-Duggan crossover I'm thinking about they'd let me borrow him.
I know what I think Cable fans desperately want, but it's not what you need. Throughout the story that Phil and I are telling we'll give gifts not to just the fans, but the characters as well, and I think they'll give you a better sense of this young man who is getting to live his best life now. You'll also get to see why Phil and I absolutely had to tell this story together.
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