by the second Black Widow. Sauron had absorbed Wolverine's regenerative healing factor and recovered from his injury, just in time to be soundly defeated by the New Avengers. He was taken back into custody, but not before returning the favor to Black Widow by burning her with his fiery breath. Sauron was placed in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and Maria Hill planned to return him to Weapon X. Sauron allied with Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, Zabu, and the natives when the Skrulls were invading the Savage Land. Sauron was among the villains analyzed by Quasimodo for Norman Osborn. Sauron later had a fight with Wolverine. Amphibius later tells Sauron and the other Savage Land Mutates that Magneto's Asteroid M has risen from the sea, but they did not want to go find him. Worm took control of Barbarus, Lupo, and Sauron and commandeered a ship to go find Magneto. When threatened by the Japanese military, Sauron attacked an armored car, causing an international incident. Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock investigated and found the Savage Land Mutates on the deck of the ship. Cannonball managed to defeat Sauron while the other New Mutants defeated the Savage Land Mutates. Upon learning why the Savage Land Mutates were on the ship, Karma told Worm, Sauron, Barbarus and Lupo that they were in charge of Asteroid M and Magneto. Worm then orders the Savage Land Mutates to return to the Savage Land. Upon becoming the new leader of the Japanese underworld, Sabretooth held a party that Sauron attended with other enemies of Wolverine. Wolverine arrived and beat them up. Kade Kilgore of the seventh incarnation of the Hellfire Club recruited Sauron to become a staff member at the Hellfire Academy. Sauron later collaborates with Stegron in a plan to turn humanity into dinosaurs where they fought Spider-Man and the mutant students from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The duo's plans are unraveled by their own infighting, purposely exacerbated by their mutual attraction to Shark-Girl, who caused their powers to neutralize each other. Lykos returns working in a military laboratory to enhance his powers, until one of his colleagues is contacted by the Scarlet Spider. Now able to store mutant energy to trigger his transformations at will, Lykos turns into Sauron and attacks the vigilante, but although he wounds the man the Spider came to the base to collect, Sauron is defeated and webbed up to