Marvel’s Villainous X-Men Wannabes Were Almost Much More Brutal

X-Men has been one of the flagship books of the current “From the Ashes” line, with superstar creators Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman creating a new X-Men epic. X-Men has revolved around the battle against 3K, a group of mutants who have figured out a way to make human adults into mutants. It’s led by one of the X-Men’s greatest foes, Cassandra Nova, and she’s built her own team of X-Men to battle Cyclops’s new group. X-Men #16 pit the two teams against each other, with the story continuing in the latest issue, X-Men #17. Earlier in the book, it was revealed that old Alpha Flight villain Wyre was the mentor and trainer of Nova’s X-Men, but X-Men #17 reveals that Wyre wasn’t Nova’s first choice as the team’s trainer. That was Sabretooth, Wolverine’s greatest foe, and one of the most formidable villains in X-Men history.

Sabretooth could seem like a strange choice for a mentor, but it actually makes complete sense. Sabretooth is definitely something of a loose cannon, and his experience with his mutant powers wouldn’t help Nova’s X-Men learn to control their abilities. However, Sabretooth brings in a lot of intangibles that would make him a near perfect mentor for a group of villainous X-Men.

Sabretooth Is Much More Cunning Than He Gets Credit For

Sabretooth was developed into the evil opposite of Wolverine. Victor Creed was everything that Wolverine fought against. Sabretooth’s childhood was terrible — his parents chained him up in their basement when his mutant powers manifested — and after slaughtering his family, he decided to luxuriate in the mutant powers that had once been his biggest torment. Sabretooth has spent over a century using his powers to do whatever he wanted, becoming a hedonist killer that loved being more powerful than everyone else. While Sabretooth is usually one step away from berserker rage, he’s not just some wild animal. Sabretooth’s super strength, healing factor, enhanced senses, and razor sharp claws and teeth make him dangerous, but he wouldn’t be nearly as successful as a soldier/mercenary/supervillain if he only depended on his powers. What has made Sabretooth such a successful killer is just how intelligent he is.

RELATED: Deadpool Director Details His X-Men Horror Movie That’s Home Alone Meets Alien

Sabretooth is way smarter than he gets credit for. He was constantly able to defeat Wolverine every time they fought for years, overcoming the advantages of Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton and claws. Sabretooth had much more control of the beast inside of him than it seemed, and proved to be a pretty good tactician over the years. Sabretooth has decades of experience in combat, and he used that experience very well. Over the years, Sabretooth has been able to come up with some pretty good plans, almost completely rewriting reality in Wolverine (Vol. 6). He worked with Mystique often — much of her cunning seemingly rubbing off on Sabretooth — and was even able to take control of the criminal enterprises of the outlaw island nation Madripoor. Nova wanted someone who would teach her X-Men to kill, and Sabretooth is perfect for that. However, Nova also knew that Sabretooth was a smart operator. He could have taught her X-Men how to outsmart their foes (yes, even Cyclops; Sabretooth really is that good), and used his decades of fighting experience to train them in combat. Sabretooth would have made them into a much more dangerous group, passing on what he knew to them with aplomb.

Nova’s X-Men Would Have Been Much More Formidable With Sabretooth As Their Mentor

The last time readers saw Sabretooth is a perfect example of why he’d be an amazing mentor. In the Krakoa Era, Sabretooth was imprisoned in the Pit. He was able to use Doug Ramsey’s kindness against him, taking control of the Pit, and remaking it into his own personal Hell. He was able to escape, and was captured by Orchis. After breaking free, he was able to use Orchis multiversal technology to move through the multiverse and grab alternate Earth versions of himself, crafting them into an army, and throwing them at Wolverine and X-Force in “Sabretooth War”. Sabretooth made a plan using things he had learned from Krakoa, and was able to nearly take out Wolverine and his allies, even while dealing with his contentious multiversal doppelgangers. Sabretooth proved that he was more than a thrill killer with that attack, something longtime Sabretooth fans always knew.

Wyre showing up in X-Men was a big surprise — mostly because he was a Z-lister who hasn’t been seen in ages — and MacKay throwing in this little wrinkle makes his choice easier to understand (this may have also been a bit of meta commentary; “From the Ashes” started being created behind the scenes before the Krakoa Era ended, so MacKay could have planned on using Sabretooth and lost that chance when he was killed). Nova definitely wouldn’t have chosen Wyre if Sabretooth was around, and honestly, this story would probably be way better if Sabretooth was involved. However, Wolverine killed Sabretooth at the end of “Sabretooth War”, so that was impossible, but it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?

X-Men #17 is on sale now.