The X-Men franchise has been notorious for changing actors in a heartbeat for every new trilogy. Victims of this change have included ever mutant that has been in the films except for Wolverine. Hugh Jackman is the only actor, in the history of superhero movies to play the same character that spanned a dozen X-Men movies in two decades. Other actors have not been so lucky, even though many as high profile as Halle Berry and Anna Paquin have talked of their interest in reprising their roles. One of the unfortunate actors to be replaced after one movie was actor Tyler Mane who played the role of Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie.
Although Wolverine and Sabretooth have a long history in the comics, that was not the case in their introduction to films. Sabretooth looked the part of a wild-maned mutant but really lacked to have any scenes with Wolverine except their epic fight scene.
When Fox decided to do a Wolverine solo movie, the role of Sabretooth had been taken over by respected actor Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A replacement which, when it was first announced was not received too well by the X-Men fans at the time. Schreiber, however, proved himself to be a fitting Sabretooth who encapsulated the bitterness the character felt about Wolverine.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to actor Tyler Mane about his former role. The actor had a lot to say on the subject, telling THR:
“That was the producers’ decision. The storyline was them rising as brothers, and Liev [Schreiber] and Hugh look a lot closer in that respect, so I understand. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I’d love to get my claws back into that role. But that’s Hollywood.”
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Although it’s a bummer to hear Mane’s experience, the producers definitely made a good call in changing actors. As he said, Sabretooth is the older brother of Wolverine and Mane just did not have the physical stance or aura of a person who looked older than Hugh Jackman.
