Josh Brolin Explains How He Transformed Into Cable For Deadpool 2

The Powers That Be over at 20th Century Fox have purportedly mapped out a four-film arc for Nathan Summers (AKA Cable), beginning with Deadpool 2. We can only assume that that means they have big, big plans for the fan favorite character, and that they hope to keep Josh Brolin around for the long haul – which makes sense.

After all, the so hot right now actor is coming off a fantastic performance as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and in Deadpool 2, he’ll play a pretty crucial role as well, given Cable has made it his mission to locate (and perhaps kill?) Julian Dennison’s Russell Collins before he commits a heinous, unspeakable crime.

For those unfamiliar with the character, Summers is a time-traveling mercenary with a no-nonsense attitude to match, and for Brolin to get into shape to play the role, it required quite the transformation. One that took him 11 weeks of training, as he explained to EW in a recent interview.

“What I should have done was just f—ing blow myself up with steroids and then just eat ice cream and watch TV,” joked the actor. “That’s kind of what I wish I would have done. But I didn’t. I had this great midlife-crisis idea. Buy a Ferrari? No, I’ll get into shape. And it was just a dumb decision. I worked out three hours a day, and I was off sugar. I’m very happy with the outcome.”

Despite what you may think, though, Brolin didn’t hit the gym with co-star Ryan Reynolds. Not even once. That doesn’t mean they didn’t commiserate over their routines, however, with Reynolds saying the following to EW in the same interview:

“I don’t know how he did it. We didn’t train together, not even once. We talked a lot about, like, how they shouldn’t just dispense [arthritis drug] Celebrex in pill bottles: It should come in smoothies and sprays — you could have one that’s sort of like a skin toner that you just fire on your face.”

Also starring Zazie Beetz, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Stefan Kapicic, and Karan Soni, Deadpool 2 has been scheduled for release on May 18th. And remember, you can now secure your tickets over on Deadpool.com.