The X-Men as a whole got wicked complicated in the 1990s. Thanks to numerous alternate futures, time travel, and retcons, their continuity became a giant mess, and the worst victim was the mutant cyborg soldier Cable. Introduced as a man from the future with a mysterious past, it would be years until his full origin was revealed. Even then his simple backstory, being Cyclops and Jean Grey's son from a dystopian future come back in time to prevent that future, just got more convoluted with each new revelation. This list is our attempt to make sense of it all.
10 He's Not Jean Grey's Son (Sort Of)
Nathan Summers' introduction as a baby in the present day was actually meant to help Cyclops retire. After Jean Grey apparently died after Dark Phoenix, Scott Summers settled down in Alaska. He fell in love with a woman named Madelyne Pryor, and they had a child. Also, Madelyne was the spitting image of Jean Grey. Why? Because she was a clone of Jean.
When the real Jean came back, Madelyne took her own life, and Jean adopted the now motherless infant Nathan. So, is she still his mother even though her clone birthed him?
9 Mr. Sinister Manipulated His Birth
If Nathan's mother Madelyne Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey, where did the clone come from? And why was she created?
Turns out, the villain Mr. Sinister created Madelyne specifically to give birth to the boy who would be Cable. Sinister believed that the offspring of Jean Grey and Scott Summers would produce a mutant powerful enough to destroy Apocalypse, his rival. But, with Jean seemingly dead, Sinister had to improvise and made a clone. His revealing her origins to her caused Madelyne's suicide.
8 He's Infected With An Alien Virus
At first glance, most people would ask what's going on with Cable's robot arm and eye. Is he a cyborg as well as a mutant?
Yes and no. When Apocalypse learned why Sinister manipulated baby Nathan's birth, the tyrant made moves to end the child. He infected the infant with a Techno-Organic virus that would eventually convert his entire body into machinery. Apocalypse obtained this virus from the Phalanx, basically the X-Men version of Star Trek's Borg, and made his own modifications. Cable needs to use all his psychic powers to hold back the virus.
7 The Weird Circumstances Of His Childhood
Nathan Summers would have expired from Apocalypse's virus if he remained in the present, so his parents allowed him to be taken 2000 years into the future by the Askani Clan, a future mutant church, to be cured.
Turns out, though, the Askani leader was the future version of Rachel Summers, another of Scott and Jean's alternate future children. Meaning Cable was raised by his sort-of half-sister. Not only that, but Rachel used her psychic powers to bring Jean and Scott's minds into the future, putting them in clone bodies, so they could raise Nathan too.
6 He Has A Spaceship In His Chest
When Askani took Nathan Summers into the future, he wasn't alone. The infant carried a passenger with him, the AI of an advanced Celestial starship.
Apocalypse used the ship, just called Ship, as a base for many years until the original X-Factor team forced him out. Ship was also infected with the Techno-Organic virus and implanted itself in the baby Cable's chest to protect him. The AI held the virus at bay until Nathan's mutant powers could manifest. Ship's AI remained dormant until Cable used it as the basis for his own starship Graymalkin.
5 His Sister Cloned Him As A Baby
The Askani brought Nathan into the future to cure him of the Techno-Organic Virus, but it proved more difficult than they anticipated. So, in case things went totally south, Rachel Summers created a healthy clone of Nathan to transfer his consciousness into.
But Apocalypse ruled this future, and he hadn't forgotten that Nathan Summers had been created to destroy him. So, the tyrant raided the Askani hideout, kidnapped the clone, and renamed him "Stryfe." He and Cable would become lifelong enemies.
4 Which Future Is He From?
It's rather ridiculous how many possible futures the X-Men have created. There's Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, Bishop's future, House of M, and those are just the big ones. But, with all those possibilities the question arises, which future is Cable from?
Officially, his timeline has been dubbed Earth-4935 or "Earth Askani." Apocalypse rules the world in this timeline, so, is it Age of Apocalypse?
No, that came later. It's still very unclear how Earth Askani came about with the 2000 year time difference, or how much, if any, it's connected to other timelines.
3 Why Cable Came Back To The Past
Once Cable's origin as Cyclops and Jean Grey's son from the future became clear, the question became why he came back in time. Let's just say his Terminator look isn't just for show.
Mostly, he came back to prevent his evil clone Stryfe from destroying the lives of his parents, whom Stryfe felt abandoned him and wanted revenge on. But a bigger goal of Cable's was preventing Apocalypse from ever rising to power and creating the dystopian nightmare he came from. So yeah, he really is X-Men Kyle Reese.
2 Cable Wasn't Meant To Be Cyclops' Son
Believe it or not, Cable's real-world origins are almost as strange as his comic book one. When he was originally created, he had no connection to the already introduced Nathan Summers at all. X-Men editor Bob Harras conceived of the concept for Cable. He wanted a more military-style leader for the New Mutants team to contrast with the pacifistic Professor X.
Writer Louise Simonsson and artist Rob Liefeld developed the "soldier from the future" idea themselves. Harras eventually decided to tie the X-Men books more closely together by making Cable the future Nathan.
1 The Original Plans for Stryfe
Before Bob Harras decided to make Cable the future Nathan Summers, Rob Liefeld had different ideas about where he wanted to take the character. Liefeld wanted to reveal that Cable and Stryfe, whom he had introduced around the same time, were, in fact, the same person.
Stryfe would be a version of Cable from further in the character's future, becoming a nemesis to his younger self. Once Harras made his decision about Cable's origin, which Liefeld disagreed with, Stryfe had to be turned into Cable's clone.