Wolverine’s Nemesis Gets New Codename to Honor His Unprecedented Upgrade

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Wolverine #42!Wolverine has had a number of arch villains throughout his X-Men career. From Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike to the entire Weapon Plus Program itself, there is no shortage of enemies that have been lurking in Wolverine’s life, armed and ready to take him down. However, only one stands above the rest as Logan’s prime nemesis: Sabretooth – and Marvel Comics just gave him a new codename to honor his unprecedented upgrade.

In Wolverine #42 by Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, and Cory Smith, Sabretooth and his army of multiversal variants have tracked down Wolverine. Logan and a number of other mutants that survived the Hellfire Gala Massacre and the subsequent mutant purge have taken refuge at X-Force’s hidden base in the North Pole. However, after Sabretooth and his army found them, there was no refuge to be had.

The Sabretooth army captures Wolverine before tearing through nearly every other mutant within the fortress. Sage and Black Tom were the only ones who could stop Sabretooth’s forces, as they had tapped into the Krakoan plant life within the base, and initiated its autonomous defenses. As the Krakoan defenses were fighting off the villains, Aurora and Northstar joined the fight, saving as many mutants as they could before joining Sage and Black Tom. While they were discussing the threat, Aurora gave Sabretooth’s army an appropriate codename: Sabreteeth.

“Sabreteeth”: X-Men’s New Codename for Sabretooth & His Multiversal Army

Sabreteeth made its (then-unnamed) debut in Sabretooth and the Exiles #5!

Sabretooth’s army (now aptly known as Sabreteeth) is as vicious as its new moniker suggests. In Sabretooth and the Exiles, Sabretooth travels the multiverse collecting the deadliest versions of himself to bring back to Earth-616 and use to slaughter all mutantkind. The variants he collected range from a shapeshifting Sabretooth who’s arguably more convincing than Mystique to a version of Sabretooth who acts as his universe’s Captain America.

In fact, it’s fair to say that Sabreteeth isn’t the new codename for Victor Creed’s army, but for Creed himself. After Earth-616’s Victor asserted himself as their alpha, each of his soldiers now follows his orders without question. It’s as if Sabretooth gained Multiple Man’s powers, as each variant operates autonomously towards a singular goal. Indeed, Sabretooth’s variants are an extension of himself – collectively making them Sabreteeth.

Sabreteeth Allows Wolverine’s Nemesis to be More Cruel than He’s Ever Been

Victor Creed’s reach has never been greater than it is as Sabreteeth!

Sabretooth was always a cruel villain, from his hand in the original Mutant Massacre to the murders he committed that doomed him to the Krakoan Pit in the first place. But now, with an army of his variants that operate as if they are physically a part of him, Sabretooth has never been deadlier than he is as Sabreteeth. Like a giant mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs, Sabreteeth has its proverbial jaws gripped on the throat of mutantkind, threatening to rip it out with a violent jerk, with almost no one able to stop it.

Sabreteeth may not be the most eloquent new codename for Sabretooth and his army, but it is the most accurate – and the most chilling. An army of Sabretooth variants acting as one under the leadership of the extremely sadistic Victor Creed is an unprecedented upgrade Sabretooth never should have been allowed, and this codename for Wolverine’s nemesis honors that perfectly.

Wolverine #42 by Marvel Comics is available now.