‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ spoils eye-popping cameo 24 years in the making, and erases the past 15 years in the process

Picture it: it’s the year 2000 and you’ve just seen the first X-Men movie. Suddenly, Future You appears to tell you that, in 24 years’ time, Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman — that young Australian fella who surprisingly killed it, despite being way too tall and handsome for the role — will make a grand comeback in the third Deadpool film. Oh, and that guy from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch movie plays Deadpool.

Somehow, that is indeed the timeline we’re living in. And something else that our younger selves wouldn’t believe? That, two and a half decades later, we would collectively lose our minds over Tyler Mane returning as Logan’s nemesis, Sabretooth. Yes, it’s official. Fox’s original incarnation of Victor Creed is set to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, as teased by this new promo for the fast-approaching threequel.

“Ready to die,” growls Sabretooth, proving he’s adorably still clinging to the cliched supervillain dialogue after all these years. Deadpool then fusses over making sure Logan is as presentable as possible before their big mid-wasteland tussle. “People have waited decades for this fight,” Wade quips, curiously. I mean, sure, we’ve certainly been waiting decades for Hugh to fight while wearing that Wolverine costume… but have we really been hankering for more Sabretooth?

I thought it was a truth universally acknowledged that Liev Schreiber’s version from X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of the few positives of that 2009 film, aside from Ryan Reynolds himself. Sure, he didn’t look the part as much but he was a more fully formed character than Mane’s barely-seen, easily-dispatched henchman from X-Men ’00. Did they originally reach out to Schreiber but he was too busy and/or expensive?

The even bigger question, though: despite us not particularly wanting to see Sabretooth again for the past 24 years, why does this trailer make it seem like the most exciting thing ever? Kudos to the Deadpool & Wolverine marketing for somehow making everyone go crazy over glimpses of ultra-obscure characters like Azazel and even Sticky Fingaz’s Blade.

Stan knows what we’ll do when we’re watching the full film and some genuinely iconic characters show up! We’ll find out how many of us survive when Deadpool & Wolverine slices into theaters on July 26.