Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge looks cool as hell. The red band trailer released earlier this week seems to perfectly capture the tone of the game as it mixes together the elusive combination of fantastical martial arts storytelling, a tongue-in-cheek attitude and, of course, extreme bloody violence.
The film looks to flesh out Scorpion’s background, too, showing off the roots of his rivalry with the Lin Kuei clan and specifically, Sub-Zero. It appears to combine this tale with a loose adaptation of the first game, in which the classic Kombatants did battle against Goro and Shang-Tsung.
Despite Johnny Cage’s protestations in the trailer, the animated film will indeed be coming straight to home release, with the digital version landing on April 12th and the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray a few weeks later on April 28th. And now, we know what the special features will be, with the full list reading as so:
From Epic Game to Extreme Animation – Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon and the filmmakers reveal the creative process behind adapting the best-selling game to an all-new animated film.
The Weapons, Wardrobe and World of Mortal Kombat Legends – The artists reveal the design challenges of animating the world of Mortal Kombat, from authentic armor to wildly imaginative weapons and fantasy settings.
The Savage Sound Design of Mortal Kombat Legends – This hard-hitting audio exploration reveals the art of designing the sonic language of the fight scenes.
Mortal Kombatants – Dive deep inside the cast of characters to reveal their unique abilities, signature moves and backstories.
Filmmaker Commentary – Producer Rick Morales and screenwriter Jeremy Adams sit down for an insightful audio commentary that reveals the process of creating a compelling animated film based on one of today’s most popular fighting games.
This won’t be the first time Mortal Kombat has been translated into animated form, of course. 1996 saw Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, which aired for just thirteen episodes and drew criticism for being aimed at children and ditching the franchise’s trademark fatalities. But with the bone-crackin’, skull shatterin’, blood spurtin’ action we see in this trailer, it’s safe to assume that this is being directly targeted at the many adult fans of the game.
It’ll also be a nice little appetizer for the next big screen Mortal Kombat movie. That’s due for release in January 2021, will sport a “hard R” and has a pretty decent cast. Here’s hoping it can match the cheesy yet effective heights of 1995’s Mortal Kombat, and not the embarrassing lows of 1996’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.