Mortal Kombat wasn’t incredible, but it delivered what I wanted. The game’s characters were brought to the screen accurately, the fight scenes were fun and, as promised, the on-screen fatalities were enjoyably brutal. Plus, there was Josh Lawson’s Kano, who basically carried the entire movie. But there’s one aspect in particular that had fans grumbling.
This was new hero Cole Young, as played by Lewis Tan. He was the protagonist, despite having never appeared in any of the games, and was reportedly created by studio mandate. Young wasn’t an awful character, but given how many awesome characters exist in the Mortal Kombat universe, I don’t see the point of making a new (and let’s face it, slightly bland) one.
However, if the story from our source is accurate, we may yet see him squaring off on the digital battlefield. We’re hearing from someone close to NetherRealm that there are plans afoot to bring Cole Young into a future Mortal Kombat game.
Sadly, that could be a long way off. The studio recently wrapped up their Mortal Kombat 11 DLC run to begin focusing on their next game. Most assume this will be a second sequel to their DC Comics-themed fighter Injustice, and as this hasn’t even been announced, yet we could be looking at 2024-25 for the return of MK.
By then it’s likely we’ll be gearing up for the movie sequel, which will hopefully finally show the actual Mortal Kombat tournament and take us on a tour of Outworld. If so, it seems like a smart bit of cross-promotion to unite the game and film universes.
More on this and other Mortal Kombat news as we hear it.