Liev Schreiber Is Sabertooth In X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Crawling out of the sewers over at Chud is the news that Liev Schreiber will grow a mane and fangs to play the villain Sabertooth in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The intense Scream 3 actor had been pegged earlier for the role of William Stryker, a minor character in the canon and previously depicted by Brian Cox in X2 as a mutant hating colonel (a variation from the comics).

The first X-Men spinoff film will explore the cloaked Weapon X program that gave Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) his famous claws and indestructible adamantium skeleton, though to what extent this figures in is debated. The alias of Schreiber's character is Victor Creed, a mutant who shares Wolvie's healing power, penchant for gruff violence, and woodland musk. Director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) takes his first stab at genre fare with the high budgeted summer blockbuster, due in theaters on May 1, 2009.

Schreiber can turn on the rampage when needed, but to me he's better suited to play a smart and dubious plotter than a towering brute. That's probably part of the role's appeal to him, though. When Sabertooth appeared in the original X-Men, he was played by the fittingly named Tyler Mane aka Michael Myers in Zombievision. As Chud mentioned, Sabertooth is a rather one-note howl, and he always struck me as overcompensating and lacking ambition. When I was a kid I thought he was related to Monkian from Thundercats, and under heavy psycho analysis probably still do, so forgive me if I'm discriminating.