Well, it’s finally here.Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool andHugh Jackman’s Wolverine reunited for the first time in ages in this summer’s Marvel blockbusterDeadpool & Wolverine, giving the MCU a major shake-up. Despite the title, the duo shared the screen with a number of other famous Marvel characters insurprising cameos, including Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Gambit (Channing Tatum), and Johnny Storm (Chris Evans). One of the most important of these includesTyler Mane’s Sabretooth. It’s been over 20 years since the firstX-Menfilm back in 2000, when Mane played the role of the long-haired, long-clawed mutant, and his return here in the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t disappoint. But what is the significance of Wolverine’s battle with Sabretooth here? Why do they hate each other so much? Well, let’s just say that these two have quite the history.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Wolverine joins the “merc with a mouth” in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.
Sabretooth and Wolverine Have an Intense Marvel Comics History
Although neither one of these two Marvel icons began as rivals, or even as X-Men characters,both Wolverine and Sabretooth have seemingly always hated each other. Wolverine first appeared asan adversary to the Hulkin 1974’sThe Incredible Hulk #180before being transferred to the Uncanny X-Men, while Sabretooth was originally an Iron Fist baddie, first appearing inIron Fist #14just three years later. Eventually, we first see these two Marvel powerhouses battle in 1986’sUncanny X-Men #212, a part of the “Mutant Massacre” crossover, but this was far from the first time these mutants battled one another. As time passed, we discovered why Wolverine hates Sabretooth inWolverine #10(1989), which explained that, back in the early 1900s, the villain brutally murdered Logan’s girlfriend, Silver Fox, leaving our hero to find her dead on his birthday.
This became something of a tradition between the two asSabretooth continued to kill and leave dead bodies for Wolverine to find every year on his birthday. The characters would battle each other for years, with only teasing hints dropped to fans concerning the deeper (and darker) origins of these characters. However, many issues have seemed to imply that Sabretooth was actually Wolverine’s father, something famedX-MenwriterChris Claremonthad hoped to convey at some point in his infamous run. “That’s why Sabretooth. . . .always considered Logan ‘sloppy seconds’ to his ‘original,'“the writer explained on a fan-forum in 2002. Despite that, the comics have confirmed on a few occasions that Sabretooth (real name Victor Creed) is not the father, nor is he Logan’s brother like others have suspected. (For a time, many thought that Dog Logan, a character introduced in Origin, was a young Sabretooth, but more recent Marvel stories have proven them to be two separate characters.) ThoughWolverine and Sabretooth are not biologically related, a continual hate still exists between them.
Although Wolverine and Sabretooth aren’t technically related, the comic seriesOrigin IIreveals that, at sometime in their shared past, Wolverine had fallen in love with Sabretooth’s sister, Clara Creed. Her brother Saul, who had previously been beaten up every year on his birthday by their older brother Victor, eventually met Logan too, ultimately betraying him to Mr. Sinister, who began experimenting on him. Once he broke free, Wolverine killed Saul, but in-so-doing alienated himself from Clara, who refused to see him anymore. From then on,Sabretooth continued his tradition of tormenting his brother on his birthday every year, now living it out through Logan, whom he had not given permission to kill Saul. Yeah, it’s a pretty messed up situation.
The X-Men Movies Tackled Wolverine and Sabretooth’s Rivalry a Bit Differently
TheX-Menmovies, however, tell a far different story concerning the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth. In 2000’sX-Men, Logan (Jackman) meets Sabretooth (Mane) for seemingly the first time when he and Rogue (Anna Paquin) are attacked by the mutant on behalf of Magneto’s (Ian McKellen) Brotherhood of Mutants.Logan instantly fights back, and these two seem to have quite the hatred for one another,though most audiences probably chalked that up to their similar power-sets. Ultimately, Wolverine is saved by Cyclops (James Marsden) and Storm (Halle Berry), and sadly, that’s all she wrote. Wolverine and Sabretooth don’t battle each other again in the film, and it wouldn’t be until nearly a decade later that their story would be explored further.
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Has Its Fair Share of Problems, but It Nails This
Even maligned films have bright spots!
Love it or hate it,X-Men Origins: Wolverinetells the story of James “Logan” Howlett as he discovers the true nature of his mutant abilities as well as his parentage.In the X-Men movie universe, Wolverine and Sabretooth’s relationship is far less complicated. Here, they’re half-brothers, with Victor Creed (played here byLiev Schreiber) the older of the two. After Logan’s powers manifest, and he kills their biological father (who had just murdered his adoptive father), Victor takes his younger brother on the run and the pair grow up together. For the next century, they fought in countless wars, including the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War, where they met Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston). It’s while working with Stryker thatVictor becomes even more bloodthirsty, murderous, and uncontrollable, and so, for the first time in ages, Logan separates from his brother.
For years, Logan lives his life apart from Victor, falling in love with Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins), with whom he settles down with in the Canadian wilderness. It isn’t long before Victor (still working with Stryker) returns,seemingly kills Kayla, and sets Logan on a darker path. Reuniting with Stryker himself in an effort to get revenge (not knowing that he and Victor planned this together),Logan gets his bones bonded with Adamantiumto become a living weapon. However, he promptly leaves the Weapon X program when he discovers Stryker’s plan to erase his memory and use him as a weapon. Of course, Logan’s memory is eventually erased anyway when Stryker shoots him in the head with an adamantium bullet (and Kayla is eventually killed for real in the film’s climax), but things between the brothers actually end amicably. AfterLogan and Victor work together against a mutated Deadpool(still played by Reynolds), they bid each other farewell, not knowing that the next time they meet, they’ll be on different sides (and likely without any memory of the other).
Liev Schreiber’s Sabretooth Was Almost in ‘Logan’
Unfortunately,that’s the last we saw of any real rivalry between Wolverine and Sabretooth on the big screen. Neither Schreiber nor Mane returned as the character inJames Mangold’sThe Wolverine, which makes sense given its international setting (though Schreiber could’ve been featured in the World War II flashback sequence, but alas), nor did they return for any of the X-Men prequel films. But the movie where Victor Creed’s absence is most felt isLogan, Hugh Jackman’s official send-off to the character. While the film was still in production, Schreiber revealed toMTV Newsthathe and Jackman had talked about Sabretooth returning forLogan, though it didn’t work out due to his commitments toRay Donovan. Co-writerScott Frankeven revealed that he and director James Mangold had toyed with the idea of Logan and Laura (Dafne Keen) running to Victor for help, but the concept was cut from the finished screenplay (viaCinemaBlend).
Rumors aside, Liev Schreiber didn’t return as Victor Creed for a final fight with Hugh Jackman (though a deleted scene fromLoganat least references Sabretooth). Nevertheless,Deadpool & Wolverinemanaged to bring the X-Men franchise full-circle by including Tyler Mane’s original version in the film. Although these two Sabretooths are actually the same character, they often feel distinct. Mane’s is a bit more feral than Schreiber’s, and Schreiber’s portrayal is certainly more rounded. But that doesn’t matter when it comes to action sequences, and that’s exactly what we got with the latest MCU blockbuster.
Deadpool & Wolverineis in theaters now.
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