Deadpool came out in February, yet it's still one of the biggest movies of the year. The sequel was given the go ahead very quickly, which means the filmmakers are already looking at actors to play the new roles that Deadpool 2 will bring. Now, it looks like there's somebody else in the running to play the role of Cable. While Kyle Chandler has been the name most recently associated with Deadpool's best frenemy, the rumor is that the studio is looking for a bigger name to take the part, namely, Liam Neeson.
Over the weekend, the rumor mill was churning with news that Deadpool 2 was looking at Friday Night Lights actor Kyle Chandler to play Cable. According to Heroic Hollywood's Umberto Gonzalez, Chandler is the first choice for Deadpool Director Tim Miller, however, Fox wants to bring in a bigger name, specifically, Taken star Liam Neeson.
Welcome to the big time Deadpool. Back when the merc with a mouth was simply an oddity that Fox clearly didn't know what to do with, Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller were essentially given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. However, what they did was make one of the biggest movies of the year. Now that the studio realizes they have a franchise on their hands, they're much more concerned with what's going on in the sequel. Now, based on this tweet, it appears that the director and studio are at odds regarding casting. It's not clear how strongly either side feels about this issue, so it will be telling to see which direction this casting eventually goes.
It's obvious why Fox is looking at Liam Neeson. He's a big name who has made a name for himself in recent years in action movies. Cable is generally portrayed as a big, somewhat older, certainly more mature, guy compared to Deadpool. Neeson would certainly make a solid straight man for Ryan Reynolds one-liners. The choice of Neeson makes perfect sense. Of course, he's the one the studio would pick. He's perfectly safe. I'm bored already. To be fair, there's no indication here whether or not Neeson has been approached or if he has any actual interest in the part, just that the studio wants him.
Most people were probably shocked when Kyle Chandler's name came up in association with the role. He's not the first guy you'd think of (that would be Stephen Lang). However, we know that Tim Miller isn't crazy, not any more than is necessary to direct Deadpool anyway. If he thinks Kyle Chandler is the guy, then we should probably assume he knows what he's doing. He made all the right decisions the first time around, maybe the studio should defer to his judgment.
What do you think? Is Liam Neeson the better choice to play Cable in Deadpool 2 ? Sound off in the comments below.
