WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Cable #9 by Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, & VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now
Kid Cable, the younger version of Nathan Summers who's been running around the Marvel Universe for the past few years, has proven himself quite different than the familiar, older Cable, the grizzled soldier from the future who forged the New Mutants into X-Force. This young version of Nathan Summers is much lighter-hearted, although doesn't quite have the same grit and edge that his older counterpart developed.
Shortly before Marvel's mutants gathered together to form the mutant nation Krakoa, the original Cable proved his immense level of skill when he took down Nimrod, an existential threat to mutantkind's future, with ease. Nathan's show of prowess took place in 2018's Cable #155, by Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler and German Peralta. In this issue, Cable was running through the streets of Japan in the year 2049. Cable's main objective was rescuing a mutant child from Nimrod, the ultimate, hyper-adaptable Sentinel.
After shooting a hole in Nimrod, Cable punched the Sentinel and infected him with the Techno-Organic Virus. This virus is the same one that infected Cable as a baby and has only been treated with the constant use of his telekinetic powers. In addition to converting organic matter to machinery, the Techno-Organic Virus either kills its host or converts them into a drone for a larger hive-mind like the Phalanx.
It's surprising that Nimrod would be affected by the Techno-Organic Virus, considering he is a machine already, rather than an organic being. However, the Techno-Organic Virus is derived from alien forms of technology, namely the Technarchy, so it's likely that the virus corrupted Nimrod's systems. Nimrod is generally adaptable to whatever gets thrown his way, but the Sentinel was seemingly beaten by this alien virus that he's never encountered before.
In retrospect, this whole encounter makes a strong case for the old Cable's return. Over time, Nimrod has been built into a major threat to mutants everywhere. While Nimrod has been a deadly opponent since his 1985 debut in Uncanny X-Men #191, by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., he's recently evolved into something of a final boss for all of mutantkind.
In Powers of X #1, by Jonathan Hickman and R.B. Silva, Nimrod was portrayed as a major component of mutantkind's downfall in Moira X's sixth and ninth lives, and an entire team of X-Men briefly died trying to stop his creation in House of X.
However, Cable #155 showed Nathan Summers taking down this threat with considerable ease. Cable defeated Nimrod so quickly that this fight wasn't even part of the main story. Rather, Nimrod was beaten in an opening scene of the comic. Cable's defeat of Nimrod demonstrated a level of experience and skill that Kid Cable just doesn't have.
Since Nimrod can adapt to anything that comes his way, the Techno-Organic Virus trick probably wouldn't work on him twice. Still, Cable probably has plenty of other tricks up his sleeve that could help against Nimrod. If old Cable were to return, however, this would probably mean the end of Kid Cable.
As revealed in Cable #9, by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto, Krakoa has a rule against replicating duplicates of other mutants. In this case, young Cable and old Cable couldn't co-exist. If Kid Cable were to die, this would upset some mutants, like Cyclops or Jean Grey, who are relishing the chance to raise their genetic son in the modern Marvel Universe. Despite that, some mutants still hold a grudge against Kid Cable for killing his older counterpart. This problematic aspect of Kid Cable's history prevents him from being fully accepted on Krakoa. Older Cable, however, would be welcomed back by his old X-Force teammates and several others, like Hope Summers.
Most importantly, the elder Cable has some of the best strategies for mutant survival. In the future, it looks like the debate between whether Kid Cable or old Cable would be a bigger help to Krakoa is just getting started.
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