While Logan is garnering rave reviews from critics and fans alike, it hasn't always been this way for the Wolverine franchise. The first movie in the trilogy, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was supposed to mark the launch of a host of new solo origin stories for Fox's mutants. However, it was universally panned (and not just for how Deadpool was treated). Nonetheless, one character stood above the others: Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth.
After Hugh Jackman dropped the bomb that Old Man Logan would be adapted as his last time as Wolverine, fans began to suspect that Sabretooth would also return. After all, he’s the best known Logan antagonist, and their relationship was very complex. There were rumors that Sabretooth would replace the Hulk in the Old Man Logan adaptation, thus becoming the superhero's ultimate antagonist on the big screen.
But that didn’t happen. Logan borrowed a couple of themes from the Old Man Logan storyline, and that was it.
However, screenwriter Scott Frank (who co-wrote both Logan and The Wolverine) revealed that Sabretooth did appear in one of the earlier drafts of Logan. Sure, it was just a cameo, but it would have brought the characters' relationship to a close. Frank added:
There was a moment when we were thinking about…as I recall, Jim [Mangold] had an idea where when they were on the run, and they go to the gambling town…they were going to see [Sabretooth] for help. He was going to be there for help. Now that you mention it! I wouldn't swear to it, but we thought that would have been an interesting thing to do. And then, for whatever reason, we didn't do it. (Cinema Blend)
Logan (Fox Movies)
As it turned out, Logan worked very well, even without this villain. But it would have been nice if Sabretooth had returned, especially since Liev Schreiber's portrayal of the character was one of the better aspects of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
