'Deadpool 2' Update: Josh Brolin Is Getting Buff to Play Cable

Josh Brolin is set to have a big 2017, thanks in large part to his co-starring role alongside Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, the hotly anticipated sequel to last year’s R-rated superhero smash. In the follow-up, Brolin will be playing the grizzled warrior Cable, and as a new photo of the actor indicates, he’s hard at work getting himself — and his body — ready for the larger-than-life part.

In a photo posted to Instagram, Brolin reveals the bulging biceps he’s developing to play the part of Cable, a futuristic badass who, in the comic books, was born in our timeline (he’s actually the son of X-Men members Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor) and then sent to the future where he grew up to be a fearsome warrior. Then he traveled back to our present, where he becomes the odd-couple companion of Deadpool’s. According to Brolin, his preparation so far involves not only weight-lifting, but a diet light on sugar and carbs and heavy on anger: “The machine is being built. I’m pissed off,” the 49-year old Brolin writes.

Earlier this year, Brolin sent out pics of his head coated in some sort of blue gunk and plaster, presumably in order to make casts to be used for the film.

The hashtag messages on the first two of these Brolin Instagram posts makes clear that the smack-talking between the Deadpool 2 headliners — which began with Reynolds back in February — isn’t apt to slow down as the film ramps up production. That means we should expect plenty more social media-filtered wisecracking before we get Deadpool 2, which is slated to debut in theaters on June 1, 2018.

Before that, Brolin will be making his proper, full-fledged debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe next May, when he faces off against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as big purple baddie Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War — giving him a one-two 2017 theatrical punch unrivaled in modern superhero cinema history.

Watch Deadpool nail a fake interview:

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

• 10 Superheroes Who Deserve Their Own Spinoff Movie

• ‘Deadpool 2’ Writers Talk Return of Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus, Dopinder, and Arrival of Cable

• ‘Deadpool 2’ Director Promises More ‘John Wick’-Style Action for Merc With a Mouth