Hugh Jackman Shares New Details About Sabretooth’s Scrapped Role In Logan

It wouldn’t have been a bleak future for Sabretooth!

Back in March, Logan screenwriter Scott Frank revealed that James Mangold originally planned to bring back Liev Shreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) to once again portray Logan‘s half-brother/nemesis, Sabretooth/Victor Creed. A month later, Schreiber confirmed that information, adding that Mangold and Hugh Jackman personally reached out to him with an offer to reprise the role, and although he wanted to work on Logan, a scheduling conflict with his Showtime series, Ray Donovan, nixed the reunion.

At a recent event to promote the film’s home release, Jackman confirmed that he and Mangold discussed Sabretooth‘s inclusion and revealed that initially the story was to focus on the brothers’ relationship.

“Jim [Mangold] and I did talk about it,” he told Collider. “For my money, [Liev Shreiber] was the best thing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I thought Ryan [Reynolds] made a lot out of his bit for it. I was always like ‘That would be so cool’ and the original script for X-Men Origins was a much smaller movie. We were sort of toying with the idea, in a way, of what we ended up doing with Logan—it was going to be a movie about these two brothers. Then different circumstances came in and the movie all of a sudden became twice the size, we had a big release date, and it was all of that. So that never happened, and I had harbored that all along and of course Jim and I worked with Liev on Kate & Leopold, so we did talk about it it was just ‘How the hell do we do it?’”

We know based on Frank’s comments that Logan was going to seek out help from Sabretooth when he, Charles Xavier, and Laura/X-23 stop off at the casino while they are on the run from Transigen and their Reavers to get some rest, a change of clothes, and ditch his bullet-riddled limo for a pickup truck.

And now, Jackman has some additional information about that scene, revealing that the future would have been financially kind to Sabretooth. “There was a story point where they go to Vegas, you know how they go to the Oklahoma casino? They go there and at this point Sabretooth is running like a major casino and really, really wealthy,” he shared, “and really kind of runs a town, and sort of respectable in a way but is still himself. That idea was thrown around, I forgot about that.”

MORE: Logan Director Shares His Idea For An X-23 Movie / Logan: Hugh Jackman Was Originally Hesitant To Play X-24 / Logan Director Has Spoken To Fox About X-23’s Return

In 2029, the mutant population has shrunk significantly and the X-Men have disbanded. Logan, whose power to self-heal is dwindling, has surrendered himself to alcohol and now earns a living as a chauffeur. He takes care of the ailing old Professor X whom he keeps hidden away. One day, a female stranger asks Logan to drive a girl named Laura to the Canadian border. At first he refuses, but the Professor has been waiting for a long time for her to appear. Laura possesses an extraordinary fighting prowess and is in many ways like Wolverine. She is pursued by sinister figures working for a powerful corporation; this is because her DNA contains the secret that connects her to Logan. A relentless pursuit begins … In this third cinematic outing featuring the Marvel comic book character Wolverine we see the superheroes beset by everyday problems. They are ageing, ailing and struggling to survive financially. A decrepit Logan is forced to ask himself if he can or even wants to put his remaining powers to good use. It would appear that in the near-future, the times in which they were able put the world to rights with razor sharp claws and telepathic powers are now over.

Logan stars Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice).

James Mangold (The Wolverine) directed, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with screenwriters Scott Frank and Michael Green.

Logan is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on May 23.