Production is supposed to start early next year on Deadpool 2, so things are going to ramp up in terms of casting in the very near future. We know that Ryan Reynolds will be back as Wade Wilson, so that is solid, but the role of the mutant Cable still needs to be filled, and the hunt is on. A new rumor suggests that Fox may want Oscar nominated actor and Taken star Liam Neeson for the role.

Recently, it came to light that Bloodline star Kyle Chandler was being eyed for the role of Cable.

According to Heroic Hollywood's Umberto Gonzalez on Twitter, Chandler is in the running, but that is who director Tim Miller wants, and not who the studio wants. When a fan asked what star the studio was interested in, Gonzalez wasn't shy about it, dropping Liam Neeson's name very bluntly. Here is what he had to say.

"They want Liam Neeson but Tim Doesn't"

Chandler seemed like something of a left field choice, but Liam Neeson seems like a very logical, on-the-nose choice for Cable. For those who may not know, Cable is a powerful, time traveling mutant with telepathic powers, who is also an expert marksman. He is typically portrayed as an old, grizzled badass, and Neeson fits that bill to the tee, especially in recent years.

It is very easy to see how a name like his could come up in a meeting, but it is also easy to see why Tim Miller may not be interested. If Neeson gets the job, it will be a very specific type of thing and people will just see the guy from Taken with mutant powers. On the other hand, it is hard to argue against it from Fox's perspective. There is no word on if Neeson is actually interested, or if his name has just been bandied about.

Deadpool was originally seen as a massive risk for Fox. So when they finally gave it the greenlight, they gave it a small enough budget and it was a low enough priority that the creative team was pretty much left alone to make the movie they wanted to make.

Now that Deadpool is the highest grossing in the X-Men franchise overall and one of the most successful movies of the year, Fox is clearly much more interested in what is going on. Gonzalez, prior to bringing up Neeson's name, didn't make it sound like Chandler has a great chance of getting the part, even though Miller wants him. Here is what he tweeted.

"Chandler was indeed Tim Miller's first choice but again, the studio wants a movie star."

It is important to note that Gonzalez said 'was' in that statement, and not 'is'. Fox is probably of the mindset that adding movie stars to the cast of Deadpool 2 will help get more box office returns, but that may not be the case. Deadpool was largely successful because the filmmakers were very faithful to the source material, and were able to make the movie that they wanted to make.

The first movie featured very few big names, except for Ryan Reynolds, who was wearing a mask for much of the movie. So it stands to reason that if Fox wants to repeat the success, just let Miller and Reynolds do their thing. But now that there is a lot of money to be made, that isn't likely to happen.

Cable is a character that fans have wanted to see in an X-Men movie for a very long time, and thanks to the post credits scene in Deadpool, we know for sure that he is coming in Deadpool 2.

Outside of the names being thrown around right now, Ron Perlman, Stephen Lang and Dolph Lundgren have all expressed interest in playing the time traveling mutant. As for who will ultimately land the role? If this report is true, and Fox has their way, it may very well be Liam Neeson. Deadpool 2 is set for release in early 2018