Josh Brolin to Play Cable in 'Deadpool 2' 

Josh Brolin to Play Cable in 'Deadpool 2' (Exclusive)

Josh Brolin has nabbed the hotly contested role of Cable opposite Ryan Reynolds in

The production has been on the warpath to find the right actor for the role for months, with Michael Shannon almost nabbing the role and

star David Harbour on the shortlist. (There were even rumors of conversations with Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt.)

In the end, Brolin emerged as a surprise contender, notching his second Marvel Comics character in the process; the actor plays the villain Thanos in the Marvel Studios movies. Sources say Brolin's deal is for four movies.  

David Leitch is directing the sequel to Fox's surprise blockbuster, with the Twentieth Century Fox movie heading toward a June production start in Vancouver.

Reynolds is reprising his role as the wisecracking mercenary, with the story expanding to include other characters from Deadpool's corner of Marvel’s X-Men universe.

has already been cast as the super-powered merc named Domino.

co-creator Rob Liefeld and writer Louise Simonson and is described as in many ways being the opposite of Deadpool: a man who is a leader and used to being obeyed, who is very controlled but with an aura of simmering violence. In the comics, Cable was from the future and was the adult of Scott Summers, also known as the X-Man Cyclops.

, has been on a busy streak with a lot of his work culminating this fall. He leads the cast of

, Joseph Kosinski’s firefighting adventure that opens Sept. 22 and also stars with Benicio del Toro in

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