Summary

• Sabretooth justifies his cruel actions towards Wolverine as doing him a favor, believing that Wolverine secretly desires a life of violence.
• Sabretooth's actions are purely selfish, driven by his longing for the glory days when he and Wolverine fought side by side.
• Sabretooth's torturing of Wolverine actually gives Wolverine an advantage, as it reveals Sabretooth's reluctance to kill him when the time comes for their final confrontation.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Wolverine #43! Above all others, Wolverine’s one true nemesis is Sabretooth, and their rivalry stretches back decades within Marvel Comics lore. Wolverine and Sabretooth’s relationship truly began when they fought side-by-side on Team X, and then they were cemented as life-long enemies when Victor Creed (seemingly) killed Silver Fox, which started Sabretooth's sick tradition of visiting Wolverine every year on his birthday to cause him immense pain - physically and emotionally. However, with just one sentence, this relationship fans thought they knew changed forever.

In Wolverine #43 by Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, and Geoff Shaw, Sabretooth is reminiscing about the good times he had fighting alongside Wolverine on Team X all those years ago. Of course, being the sadistic psychopath that he is, Victor is doing this immediately following his assault on Wolverine and the X-Men in the issue prior, during which time Sabretooth murdered Wolverine’s son and slaughtered a number of mutant refugees. But, that’s of little consequence to him, as according to Sabretooth, it was all for Wolverine’s benefit.

“I’m doing him a favor”. That’s how Sabretooth justifies his crusade to ruin Wolverine’s life. Sabretooth has convinced himself that Wolverine secretly wants to return to a life of hyper-violence, one of endless war and bloodshed. So, Victor causes him immense pain - especially on his birthday - to help him what he ‘secretly craves’. Sabretooth doesn’t hate Wolverine, far from it, he misses him.

Sabretooth Secretly Misses Wolverine, & That’s Why He Tortures Him

Sabretooth War is Victor Creed’s sick love letter to Wolverine!

While this could be interpreted as Sabretooth trying to help Wolverine recapture the life he lost and secretly wants back, it’s important to note that none of what Sabretooth is doing is for Wolverine’s benefit at all - that’s simply how he justifies it. In fact, Sabretooth even says that if Wolverine actually doesn’t want his life of violence back, then he’d be better off dead, which is decidedly not beneficial to Wolverine living a happy and fulfilling life.

Sabretooth’s actions are purely selfish. He misses the days when he and Wolverine would jump out of an airplane into enemy territory, kill everyone, and then have a beer afterward. Victor craves the glory days of his past, and he wishes Wolverine did too. But, when Logan wanted to move on, Sabretooth snapped and killed someone he loved (Silver Fox), which is what made any chance for reconciliation utterly impossible. So, Sabretooth lashes out, hoping that one day Wolverine will finally take the hint and Sabretooth on a glorious killing spree like in the good ole days.

Sabretooth’s Wolverine Delusion Will Ultimately Be the Death of Him

Sabretooth constantly torturing Wolverine may seem like a horrific fate for Logan, but in reality, it gives him the upper hand he needs to stop Victor once and for all. This issue confirms that Sabretooth only terrorizes Wolverine because he wants him back by his side, which means he’ll be reluctant to kill him when the time comes. Indeed, Sabretooth let Wolverine live last issue while he went on a murdering spree, which only further proves this point. However, Wolverine doesn’t share Sabretooth’s sentimentality, so when the time does come, Wolverine will not hesitate to kill his ultimate nemesis.

Regardless of what this quote means for the future, the biggest takeaway is its retroactive impact on the past. All this time, fans thought Sabretooth hated Wolverine so much, that he wanted to torture him at least once a year on his birthday. But the truth is, Sabretooth misses the Wolverine he fought alongside on Team X, something that’s made clear by this quote, which utterly redefines their rivalry.

Wolverine #43 by Marvel Comics is available now.