It’s been well-charted in Wolverine and Sabretooth are partners or friends in the films, as the two literally tried to kill each other during their very first encounter in X-Men (2000). At least, that’s how it would appear. But, in truth, that version of Wolverine and Sabretooth did become partners and friends - it just never became a movie.
In the first X-Men film left him, as he is riding Cyclops’ motorcycle away from the X-Mansion to uncover the secrets of his mysterious past. At the end of the first film, Charles Xavier gives Logan a location to investigate: Alkali Lake - so, that’s where he’s headed. However, Wolverine has an unwelcome ‘travel buddy’ tailing him: Sabretooth. Sabretooth waits until Wolverine stops for gas to attack him, and these rivals engage in gloriously brutal combat.
When their fight was over (rather explosively), Wolverine and Sabretooth decided to do perhaps the last thing anyone would expect them to do: grab a couple of beers. They head to a nearby bar and drink together, where it’s revealed that the two of them were both victims of William Stryker’s cruel experiments as a part of the Weapon X Program. Apparently, Sabretooth was only working with Magneto (as seen in the first film) because Magneto promised to help him uncover the truth of his past, just as Xavier promised to do for Wolverine.
Wolverine and Sabretooth realize they’re both after the same thing, and they just happened to be on the opposite sides of a fight that wasn’t even really theirs to begin with. In other words, there were no hard feelings against Wolverine for getting Sabretooth blasted off the top of the Statue of Liberty. In that spirit, Wolverine and Sabretooth decide to partner-up. And, at that moment, the two are attacked and kidnapped by Stryker’s men - the same ones who would later attack the X-Mansion in X2: X-Men United.
Marvel Actually Redeems Sabretooth, Something the Comics Don’t Even Attempt
Sabretooth Ends Up Saving Wolverine’s Life, & Even Becomes a Hero
After Wolverine and Sabretooth are taken by Stryker’s strike force, they find themselves flying in a chopper to Alkali Lake, where they were to be brainwashed and experimented on further. However, the two mutants find a way to escape their confinement, only to be hammered by the strike team yet again. There was only time for one of them to escape while the other held off the soldiers, and Sabretooth decided that Wolverine was the one who would make it out of that chopper, while he would stay behind and ride it all the way to their shared destination.
It’s revealed at the end of the comic that Sabretooth was killed by the experimentation he endured upon returning to Alkali Lake, which implies that Wolverine would have been killed as well if Sabretooth didn’t get him out of there. That means Sabretooth saved Wolverine’s life, making him a legitimate hero in the FOX/X-Men continuity. Sabretooth is a sympathetic hero in the continuity of the original X-Men films, and his death at the end of this canon tie-in comic explains why he never returned.
Meet the Ultimate Sabretooth, As Wolverine's Nemesis Gets a Bloodsoaked Reboot
The Ultimate Universe is about to introduce Wolverine's arch enemy: Sabretooth! But, one question still lingers: will Sabretooth be a villain or hero?
This story is honestly one of the best featuring Wolverine and Sabretooth, as it achieves what Marvel Comics’ main continuity of Earth-616 doesn’t even attempt: redeeming Sabretooth. Sabretooth is so far gone in Marvel Comics proper, any attempt at rehabilitating him would feel forced and disingenuous. However, the FOX/X-Men universe had the chance to do something different with Sabretooth while still telling a badass ‘Weapon X’ story that continued the plot of the film without stepping on the toes of the movies. In other words, this tie-in comic had no right to be as good as it was, and it honestly deserved to be a movie.
The X-Men Movies Replaced This Wolverine/Sabretooth Story with a Worse One
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Not only did this outstanding Wolverine/Sabretooth story not get the credit it deserved by being included in the actual X-Men movies (even though this comic is technically canon to that continuity), the FOX/X-Men universe made an even worse decision regarding its Wolverine/Sabretooth movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a movie all about Wolverine and Sabretooth, as the two are enemies who become reluctant partners against an even greater threat (Deadpool and the entirety of Weapon X), before ultimately going their separate ways.
In those broad-strike plot-points, X-Men Origins: Wolverine covers basically the same ground as the storyline of this prequel comic, just in a worse and overly convoluted way. X-Men Origins: Wolverine makes Wolverine and Sabretooth brothers, while the prequel comic continues their established relationship from the first movie. X-Men Origins then goes into the truth of Wolverine’s Weapon X experimentation, effectively spoon-feeding fans the mystery that was set up in the first two films, while also somehow robbing fans of the torturous experience teased in the previous films with a watered-down version of events that didn’t really include Sabretooth behind covert manipulation (which, for Sabretooth, was a bizarre choice).
Marvel Secretly Introduces Ultimate Sabretooth, Paying Off a Tease 18 Years in the Making
Marvel's new Ultimate Universe is steadily introducing variants of classic Earth-616 heroes/villains, and it may have secretly introduced Sabretooth.
In short, the X-Men movies replaced a really great Wolverine/Sabretooth story with a painfully mediocre one. If fans didn’t know what they were missing, this could be excusable. But, after reading the X2 prequel comic and seeing what should have been brought to the big screen instead of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it’s hard to forgive the FOX/X-Men universe - something that becomes even more difficult with another live-action film.
The X-Men Movies Eventually Brought Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth Back, but Not Like This
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
If fans thought Wolverine and Sabreooth’s story together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was bad, then they clearly haven’t seen Deadpool & Wolverine. To be clear, Deadpool & Wolverine is an amazing Wolverine and Deadpool movie, but a pretty bad Sabretooth one, especially considering the version of Sabretooth who returned was played by Tyler Mane - the same Sabretooth from X-Men (2000). He was killed instantly by Wolverine, and the whole thing was played up for a laugh.
The reunion of Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the comics gave life to one of the greatest Wolverine/Sabretooth stories in Marvel history, which is why it’s astounding that the movies totally failed to capture that same magic, since it was the version of the characters from the movies that made that story so fantastic to begin with. Indeed, the X-Men films’ original Wolverine and Sabretooth had the perfect team-up sequel - it just never became a movie, and the movies fans got instead were sadly much worse.
- Created By
- Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita Sr.
- Cast
- Hugh Jackman
- First Appearance
- The Incredible Hulk (2023)
- Alias
- James "Logan" Howlett
- Alliance
- X-Men, Avengers, Canadian Army, OSS/CIA, Avengers Unity Squad, Alpha Flight, New Avengers, New Fantastic Four, Savage Avengers, Weapon X, X-Force
- Race
- Human-Mutant
