Marvel Makes Major Change to Sabretooth

Marvel Comics has “fixed” the classic X-Men villain, and Wolverine’s archenemy, Sabretooth.

SPOILERS for Weapon X #27 by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Luca Pizzari, and Frank D’Armata follow.

During the 2014 Avengers and X-Men crossover event AXIS, one of Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch’s spells affected Sabretooth. The inversion spell caused Sabretooth to go through a “moral inversion.” This inversion replaced his villainous impulses with more altruistic motives.

After Wolverine’s death, Sabretooth took his former foe’s place as a member of the Avengers Unity Division. Later, he joined Magneto’s X-Men team, where he entered into a romantic relationship with the mutant called M.

Old Man Logan recruited Sabretooth to help fight Weapon X. Reverend William Stryker had founded a new version of the group that tortured both Logan and Sabretooth. After defeating Weapon X, Sabretooth decided that even if he was fighting on the side of the angels, he wasn’t doing it everyone else’s way. He staged a kind of coup of the group and took over leadership for himself.

Sabretooth rechristened the organization Weapon X-Force and turned it into a mercenary outfit. Sabretooth had a special mission for the team, finding M, who had gone missing. He tracked her down to a cult in Aspen led by the mind-manipulating villain Mentallo.

Weapon X-Force discovered that Stryker was behind this group as well. The supposed man of God had entered into a deal with the devil for power and immortality. Weapon X-Force destroyed Stryker’s cyborg body, but all it would take is Mentallo sacrificing a few cult members to bring Stryker back.

Weapon X-Force sought out Azazel, the demon who fathered Nightcrawler with Mystique. They convinced him to send them all to Hell to stop Stryker for good. Though the devil himself tried to trap and torture their souls, Weapon X-Force managed to find Stryker.

Mentallo tried to resurrect Stryker, so Sabretooth sent his team back to fight Mentallo. When Stryker imbued Mentallo with his own power, Sabretooth returned to fight Mentallo himself. Mentallo attempted to mind control Sabretooth. Sabretooth reverted to his more animalistic nature to keep fighting.

Sabretooth stopped Mentallo but fell into the sacrificial pit. He died and returned to Hell in time to make sure the sacrifices resurrected his and Mystique’s son, Graydon Creed, instead of Stryker.

By rights, Sabretooth should be stuck in hell, but this failed to please the Devil. Deciding he’d be unable to enjoy torturing Sabretooth in his current state, the Devil sent Sabretooth back to the land of the living. He notes that Sabretooth is now free of his sense of morality and nobility and returned to his true nature.

It seems that Sabretooth is now free of the effects of the inversion spell. This seems to be part of Marvel resetting the X-Men line to a more familiar state. Havok, who was also influenced by the inversion spell, has returned to his heroic self. Wolverine is alive again. Magneto has left the X-Men to lead a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (though that seems to have been short-lived).

What do you think of this return to form for Sabretooth? Let us know in the comments!

Weapon X #27 is on sale now.