Summary

• The "Sabretooth War" is the culmination of five years of storytelling and is one of the most ambitious stories in the X-Men franchise's Krakoan Era.
• Benjamin Percy and co-writer Victor Lavalle have been building up the tension between Wolverine and Sabretooth, and now the longstanding threat is finally coming to fruition.
• The "Sabretooth War" will bring a definitive endpoint to the Wolverine and Sabretooth storylines in the Krakoan Era, and the paradigm of Wolverine will be radically altered by the conclusion of the arc.

As the Fall of X accelerates, and the patience on behalf of X-writers, and it may turn out to be the Krakoan Era's true stunning achievement.

In an appearance on the CEREBRO podcast from 2022, Wolverine writer Benjamin Percy offered insight into the ongoing progression of the character's story. In particular, he touched on Wolverine's relationship with his ultimate antagonist, Sabretooth, and explained why this hero-villain dynamic had to be put on the back-burner at the start of the Krakoan Era.

In retrospect – now that Wolverine is in the run-up to issue #50 with the sprawling "Sabretooth War," arc, and Sabretooth's villainy has truly reached a boiling point – Percy's comments make it clear that Marvel's approach paid off in spectacular fashion.

The last five years of X-Men stories have spanned time and space, but the ongoing "Sabretooth War" seeks to push Wolverine to a previously untested boundary

The "Sabretooth War" Has Been Looming For Years

Benjamin Percy and co-writer Victor Lavalle are crafting one of the most ambitious stories of the X-Men franchise's Krakoan Era – which is saying something, considering the Era's stories have largely all taken wild, exciting swings in some form or another. The last five years of X-Men stories have spanned time and space, but the ongoing "Sabretooth War" seeks to push Wolverine to a previously untested boundary. Percy's comments from his 2022 appearance on the CEREBRO podcast provide valuable context for what readers are witnessing now.

Percy appeared on the podcast to discuss Omega Red, who became the dominant Wolverine antagonist at the start of the Krakoan Era. This came about as a result of Jonathan Hickman narratively taking Sabretooth off the board in 2019 House of X/Powers of X miniseries, which relaunched the X-Men franchise. As Percy explained, this was intentional, as part of a long-term outlook on Wolverine and Sabretooth's story. "Sabretooth being the big bad of Wolverine canon," Percy said, "to put him in right away is like sending the Hobbits to Mordor by the end of Chapter 1 of the Fellowship."

"Sabretooth War" Proves Readers Do Have Patience

The brutal "Sabretooth War" arc brings to a definitive endpoint everything that has been done with Wolverine and Sabretooth during the Krakoan Era. Each of their stories, intertwined as ever, have led to this.

"You want that to be simmering in the background instead," Percy said of Sabretooth as a threat. Now, he is finally bringing that longstanding tension to fruition, paying off years worth of storytelling, and proving that Marvel's X-writers were right to be patient. Interestingly, in his CEREBRO appearance, Percy stated that readers lacked the appetite for long story arcs – but now, the "Sabretooth War" is coming to fruition in the form of a 10-issue arc, albeit one delivered bi-monthly. In any case, the story is a reward to Ben Percy, Victor Lavalle, and their creative collaborators on Wolverine.

The brutal "Sabretooth War" arc brings to a definitive endpoint everything that has been done with Wolverine and Sabretooth during the Krakoan Era. Each of their stories, intertwined as ever, have led to this. X-Men stories may look very different following the conclusion of the overarching arc that began with House of X/Powers of X in 2018. In parallel, without a doubt, Wolverine's paradigm will be radically altered as well, by the time the "Sabretooth War" reaches its conclusion in the series' milestone fiftieth issue.

Source: CEREBRO podcast, featuring Ben Percy

Wolverine #43 is available now from Marvel Comics.