Michael Shannon Was Supposed To Be Deadpool 2's Cable – Here's Why He Dropped Out

Director David Leitch had a big bionic arm to fill when casting the role of Cable in "Deadpool 2." Anticipation was high following the massive success of the original "Deadpool, especially considering that the post-credits scene of the 2016 film teased the popular X-Men character's appearance. The tongue-in-cheek scene just has Deadpool listing off potential actors for the role, most of them wholly inappropriate, but it still lit the fires of fan-casters everywhere. Who could play the part?

A myriad of actors were rumored for the role, including General Zod himself: "Man of Steel" star and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon. The rumors about him being in contention for the part hit the internet in 2017, suggesting Shannon was the frontrunner for the role. Fate had other plans, though, and Shannon eventually parted ways with the project before anything official could come to fruition.

Instead, Josh Brolin would take on the role between his stints as Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brolin brought the stoic time-traveler to life in "Deadpool 2," providing great chemistry with Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. But recently, a producer involved with David Leitch's latest film, "Bullet Train," finally confirmed Shannon's involvement in "Deadpool 2," and why the actor couldn't take on the role.

While Michael Shannon couldn't play Cable in "Deadpool 2," the actor did finally collaborate with director David Leitch on "Bullet Train." Shannon plays a Russian gang leader in the film, and producer Kelly McCormick couldn't be happier about his involvement. In an interview with IndieWire, McCormick spoke about reconnecting with Shannon for "Bullet Train," officially revealing that the actor was nearly Cable until he wasn't:

"He actually almost was Cable. Then there was some sort of hiccup conflict at the very last minute, and then we just ended up reconnecting on this one, and felt really lucky that this was the role for him. Because Josh [Brolin] was so good as Cable, I can't even imagine [what that would have been like]."

Seeing Michael Shannon as Cable would have been interesting, especially since Shannon has never been one to shy away from leaning toward more comedic, offbeat tendencies, which can be seen in projects like "Knives Out." Unfortunately, scheduling and production conflicts seem to frequently be the death of exciting collaborations in Hollywood. Although Shannon couldn't be Cable, there's still potential for the actor to take on another comic book role. Whether it's his apparent return to the role of General Zod in "The Flash" or becoming a part of the ever-growing list of actors in the MCU, Shannon would surely bring something refreshing to the comic book movie table.