Liev Schreiber Has A Good Reason For Not Returning As Sabretooth In Deadpool & Wolverine

"Deadpool & Wolverine" isn't just one of the biggest hits of 2024, it's also one of Marvel's biggest hits in a long time. Not since "Spider-Man: No Way Home" has the Marvel Cinematic Universe seen a movie with such cultural penetration, not to mention that this is all stemming from an R-rated affair. A lot of that is credited to bringing back characters from the Fox universe, led by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. One character we didn't get to see, however, was Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth, with the actor having played the mutant in the much-maligned "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." So, why didn't Schreiber return? It at least had something to do with not wanting to put his body through what it would've required.

In a recent interview with Collider to promote his new movie "Across the River and Into the Trees," Schreiber addressed not coming back in "Deadpool & Wolverine." Instead, "X-Men" star Tyler Mane reprised his version of Sabretooth. Schreiber explained that the physical demands of getting into shape — particularly in your 50s — for a superhero role such as this are just too great:

"To be honest, it's a lot of work getting your body up to that point. I know I watched Hugh [Jackman] get himself ready again, and I thought, 'I'm okay to sit by the sidelines.'"

Indeed, Jackman did a lot of work to get back into Wolverine shape. We regularly see wild transformations by actors for superhero films. The degree to which that is healthy or not is another conversation entirely, but Schreiber wanted no part of it. It's understandable too. Not to get into spoilers for those who haven't seen the film, but Mane isn't exactly in the movie for a long time. For Schreiber, it would have been an awful lot of work potentially for very little screen time.

It's unclear whether or not Schreiber was approached by director Shawn Levy and/or Marvel Studios to return, but it would've made sense. "Deadpool & Wolverine" was largely about giving the pre-MCU versions of these characters a proper send-off, even if they weren't altogether loved in their original iterations. Schreiber would've fit that bill. Not every character could make it into the film though, with Josh Brolin's Cable being another prime example.

It would be hard to argue against the way things worked out. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is now the biggest R-rated movie in history, with more than $1.2 billion to its name (and counting). For Schreiber, he's just happy that fans seemingly wanted to see him return as Sabretooth in the first place, as he also addressed that in the interview, saying the following:

"It's amazing. I can't begin to tell you what it feels like when people are thinking about something you did and are so appreciative of it that they want you to do it again."

The actor also added, "I was so surprised that we had that many fans, and I was so surprised that people were campaigning for me to be in the new Deadpool movie." Schreiber is right to be at least a little surprised. After all, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" isn't exactly a beloved film, to put it nicely. Yet, it's a great example of a great actor in the right role who got caught up in a bad movie. Fans seem to recognize that.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is in theaters now.