All aboard the crazy train! Back at the beginning of March, we reported that the Oscar-nominated force of nature known as Michael Shannon had been in consideration for the role of Cable in 20th Century Fox's Deadpool sequel, but that scheduling conflicts would be taking him out of the running. That left Stranger Things stand-out David Harbour as the frontrunner for the role. Now, the trades seem to be backing up the assertion that Shannon is/was in the mix, though few details beyond that are available.

THR says that Shannon is now the studio's first choice, followed by Harbour; they also mention that the rumored interest Kyle Chandler was never a serious consideration. With Deadpool 2 scheduled to shoot this summer in Vancouver, his commitment to writer-director Elizabeth Chomko's indie drama What They Had could complicate things since it shoots this spring. And speaking of scheduling, whoever signs on to play Cable will undoubtedly be contracted to appear as the character in the X-Force film, at the very least. Variety offers little to clarify things except to say that Shannon has been the top choice for Fox for the last week, though no deal is in place; Deadline echoes that, saying that Shannon was only approached this week and talks haven't started since it's early days.

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Image via Paladin Films

So while Shannon and his many projects get a well-deserved news bump thanks to this tidbit, there's ultimately nothing newsy to report just yet. What we do know is that Ryan Reynolds will return as the Merc with a Mouth, this time for director David Leitch. And while Cable has yet to be cast, the curious character of Domino is set with Atlanta star Zazie Beetz having recently been announced. We're still waiting on an official release date, but February 2018 is looking like a likely target.

For more on Deadpool, be sure to take a look at these recent write-ups:

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Image via Marvel
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Image via Marvel Comics