SATAN'S CIRCUS

Classification: Terrestrial bar

Creator: Unrevealed

Owner: "The Management"

Employees: O'Sullivan, Peepers (Peter Quinn), Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich), unidentified others

Customers: Brick Barton, Chameleon (Dmitri Smerdyakov), Constrictor (Frank Payne), Corey, Marmaduke Dix, Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Electro (Maxwell Dillon), Fisk (formerly Fyskov), James Howlett, Hydro-Man (Morrie Bench), Kangaroo (Brian Hibbs), Man-Bull (William Taurens), Mister Hyde (Calvin Zabo), Sabretooth (aka. Mad Dog Murphy, Victor Creed), Scalphunter (John Greycrow), Shocker (Herman Schultz), Splice, Tombstone (Lonnie Lincoln), Typhoid Mary (Mary Walker), Underworld (Jackie Dio), Whirlwind (David Cannon), many others

First Appearance: Weapon X II#26 (September, 2004)
















History:
(Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1 (fb)) - In 1909 after Creed helped him escaped Ravencroft, Fyskov took him to the Satan's Circus where Brick Barton, who had taken control over Fyskov's gang in his absence, was fighting a bear in a ring set up behind the bar. After defeating the bear in front of a rabid crowd he demanded another opponent like a gorilla, white shark or Atlantean, but Fyskov had another challenger for him in the form of Creed whom he introduced to Brick as Mad Dog Murphy. Creed almost instantly killed Brick by decapitating him to the shock of the crowd. Fyskov was once again in control of his gang.

(Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#5 (fb)) - Mad Dog Murphy returned to the Satan's Circus after seemingly killing Crocodilian (Marmaduke Dix), servant of the Egyptian god Sobek. He was having a drink when media tycoon William Randolph Hearst asked him for a comment on the events that left Murphy in power of as the King of the Five Points. Victor had no interest to stay in power of the criminal underworld and was asked by Nathaniel Essex to rejoin him at Ravencroft, but Victor had interest to do that either and left to find James Howlett, who, according to the newspaper, was last seen in Niagara Falls.

(Weapon X II#26 (fb) - BTS) - Sabretooth got Peepers a job at Satan's Circus as a waiter.

(Weapon X II#26) - Sabretooth played cards with Typhoid Mary, Constrictor and some bald guy (maybe Absorbing Man) and talked about heroes they had the hots for. Sabretooth mention that he had been at this bar long before the others at the table were even born. Sabretooth and Typhoid nearly got into a fight, but Constrictor reminded him that there was no fighting inside Satan's Circus. Peppers came by the table and reiterated the rule and Sabretooth was already annoyed that he was even there, having nearly forgotten that he had gotten him the job. Peepers asked if Sabretooth wanted another beer, but Sabretooth left after pouring the remaining beer he had in his glass over Peepers' head. The little guy was a bit disappointed that he didn't get a tip from Victor.

(Weapon X II#28) - Scalphunter met with Sabretooth in Satan's Circus. The bar was pretty full and Peepers and the other waiters had a lot of work to do that night. Sabretooth had a beer while Scalphunter had a shot of something else. Scalphunter provided Sabretooth with information that would help him get past the defenses of Mister Sinister's castle. Scalphunter left after suggesting to Sabretooth to get the X-Men's help to deal with Sinister, which gave Sabretooth an idea. He left the bar after drinking his beer.

(Underworld#3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point the Devil's Bar became a joint specifically marketed to the costumed super-villain community. At some point the hero Captain Terrific tried to bust up some criminals at the bar and his head ended up on a mantle on the wall.

(Underworld#3) - Jackie Dio visited the bar after receiving a severe beating from his brother Vincent. He knew the password and was allowed inside by the bouncer Rhino. Jackie didn't want a drink and the bartender believed he was looking for the Consultant, but Jackie was just looking for a doctor. He was okay with learning the whereabouts of the Consultant as well though. Some of the villains had been in prison with Jackie and he didn't treat them well back then. They looked pretty mad at him, but nobody touched Jackie because they weren't sure if he had powers like them now because he was at the Satan's Circus. Everyone just continued with what they were already doing and Jackie soon left the bar with the address for a doctor on River Avenue, who turned out to be the Consultant anyway.

(Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1) - Douchebag influencer Corey visited the Satan's Circus, one of NYC's oldest bars, and filmed his experience while mocking some of the older costumers until one of them ripped the mobile phone out of his hand and crushed it. He asked the man to pay for his mobile, but the man was James Howlett (Wolverine), who asked him to get out of the bar before he had to pay for Corey's hospital bill. Corey left and James got into a conversation with Marmaduke Dix (though we didn't learn that it was him until the final issue of the series), who wanted to talk about the rich history of the bar, but James just wanted a drink after attending a funeral of someone he really hated (I assume Sabretooth). Dix ordered a drink from O'Sullivan for James to toast to the dead with him. They had a few glasses of whiskey and James began to remember his own history at this bar at the beginning of the 20th century. He looked at the pictures and articles on the wall behind the bar and suddenly recognized Sabretooth in one of the images, whom Dix knew as Mad Dog Murphy, who ran with the old gangs in the early 1900s. Dix then began to tell an interested James everything he knew about Mad Dog's exploits from back then over a couple of more whiskey shots.

(Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#5) - Dix ended the story of Mad Dog Murphy and James remembered how Victor came after him in Niagara Falls and slipped up telling Dix about it before backtracking. Both men left the bar soon after finishing their whiskeys. James took off on a motorbike while Dix looked at the amulet given to him over a century ago by Sobek.

Comments: Created by Frank Tieri, Staz Johnson & Tom Palmer.

   I am trying to make sense of this because despite the same name the bars in Weapon X, Underworld and Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk look nothing alike, but it clearly was intended to be the same. Weapon X II#26 first showed the bar and Sabretooth immediately established that he had a long history with the bar. Some of this history was in Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk. Underworld was also a super-villain bar like the one in Weapon X II#26. Lets just call it artistic license and continue with an additional assumption.

   In Underworld#3 it looks like the super-villain bar is somewhere downstairs and could be entered through a door at the back of a building that led there. There is also an exit (see right) that leads up some stairs and photographs can be seen on the wall. I believe the stairs at the second exit lead up to the regular bar seen in Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1 and #5. The super-villain bar could possibly be located where Brick Barton was seen fighting the bear back in 1909 (see left).

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Satan's Circus has no known connections to:


images: (without ads)
Underworld#3, p5, pan1 (main, super-villain bar)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1, p21, pan1 (entrance in 1909)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#5, p13, pan2 (bar early 1900s)
Weapon X II#26, p4, pan1 (logo behind the super-villain bar)
Weapon X II#26, p5, pan2 (no fighting rule in super-villain bar)
Underworld#3, p4, pan2 (entrance to super-villain bar)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1, p1, pan1 (entrance to regular bar)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1, p5 (photographs and articles in the bar)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1, p21, pan2 (1909, behind the bar Barton fights bear)
Underworld#3, p6 (stairs to regular bar?)


Appearances:
Weapon X II#26 (September, 2004) - Frank Tieri (writer), Tom Mandrake (artist), Mike Marts (editor)
Weapon X II#28 (November, 2004) - Frank Tieri (writer), Tom Mandrake (artist), Mike Marts (editor)
Underworld#3 (June, 2006) - Frank Tieri (writer), Staz Johnson (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#1 (February, 2025) - Frank Tieri (writer), Michael Sta. Maria (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk#5 (June, 2025) - Frank Tieri (writer), Michael Sta. Maria (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)


First Posted: 09/24/2026
Last updated: 06/23/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Locations