Spoilers for Mortal Kombat 2021 and Mortal Kombat lore in general
If you’re like me, you watched Mortal Kombat as soon as you were done with work on Friday. I’ve been waiting for this movie for centuries, it feels like. Long before any sort of announcement, I always dreamt of getting a cinematic version that could wash away the memory of the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
Even with live-action series like Mortal Kombat: Legacy (or even Mortal Kombat: Conquest) and the video games getting amazing reboots to the franchise, I still wanted a movie that deeply explored the lore I’d come to love.
And fatalities.
I wanted that, too.
Overall, I thought Mortal Kombat was entertaining as hell, from its unapologetic display of blood and gore (shout out to that Kung Lao fatality, my fave of the film), to giving me a big screen backstory for its most iconic characters (Team Scorpion, BTW, but damn Sub-Zero was SICK in this film), to it, somehow, making me enjoy Kano?
That’s not to say it was a perfect film. The whole arcana thing and some people getting superpowers while others get magical girl cybernetic arm transformation sequences is … a choice. There are a lot of choices in this film, some great, some “so Reiko, Nitara, and Goro just exist to be killed, huh,” but I did have fun watching the movie, and more importantly, it made me actually want more films.
So I’m gonna break down some theories I have via various easter eggs and general fangirl hopes and dreams for what I’d like to see in the future.
- An actual Mortal Kombat tournament
One of the biggest surprises of a film called Mortal Kombat is that there isn’t even a Mortal Kombat tournament! Instead, it focuses on Shang Tsung choosing violence (literally) and hunting down the champions to kill them before the tournament begins.
I don’t exactly hate this. I like Shang Tsung treating the rules as mere suggestions that he doesn’t have to abide by, after all, in the games Shao Kahn figures out a way to work around the rules so he can invade Earthrealm (resurrecting Queen Sindel). At least in the games, the villains were more subtle in their rule-breaking. In the movie, Shang Tsung’s legitimately out here trying to KILL chosen fighters because technically you can have conflict outside of the tournament.
That’s … a shitty oversight there, Elder Gods. Shang Tsung can just … SHOW UP at Raiden’s temple and take someone’s soul before the tournament?!
In the end, after all of Shang Tsung’s fighters are killed, he says that death is just another portal. We also find out that there are still chosen fighters out there for the heroes to go and gather. This tells me that we actually have no idea who’s gonna end up participating in Mortal Kombat (save for the remaining heroes, assuming nothing happens up to the sequel), and when we do get to the tournament, there’s no telling whether or not Shang Tsung is gonna let it play out fairly (HA!), or try to eliminate the competition again (probably this).
- You just got CAGED
The last shot in the movie is a poster of the man, the myth, the legend: Johnny Cage. Cole’s on his way to Hollywood to do some recruiting. Lucky for him, the soon-to-be bestselling smash-hit Citizen Cage is coming soon! Unless, of course, we’re looking at an old poster and we get “washed-up actor” Cage instead of “I tattooed my name to my chest” Cage.
I’m really hoping it’s the latter. Let this man show up to a tournament in a suit and sunglasses, I DARE you.
- The return of Bi-Han
What started out as an all-black, shadowy, ninja palette swap in the OG games has become the fan-favorite character, Noob Saibot. Once his backstory was expanding courtesy of Mortal Kombat: Deception, it was revealed that Noob Saibot was Bi-Han, who had been resurrected by Quan Chi after the ice ninja was killed by Scorpion.
Truly ironic, since it’s later revealed that it was Quan Chi who killed Scorpion’s clan, not Sub-Zero.
I’ll get to Quan Chi in a minute.
With Bi-Han being killed by Scorpion in the movie, there’s a good chance we can see Noob Saibot in the future. This is especially true since Bi-Han’s outfit strongly resembles Noob Saibot’s (it’s more black than blue) and, yes, I know the dark shadow portal is from Shang Tsung, but it REALLY looks like a Noob Saibot-esque entrance.
Death is just another portal.
- Another sorcerer appears: Quan Chi
This isn’t just because I think we’re gonna get Noob Saibot, it’s also because we see Shinnok’s amulet in Raiden’s temple. The amulet could just be an easter egg to the fans who recognize it, but it could also be a hint at what’s to come for the series.
Part of me thinks that it would be way too early to have Quan Chi show up in the second movie, after all, we haven’t even met Shao Kahn yet. However, in the reboot series of games, Quan Chi was included in the original story, shown with Scorpion since he’s the one who revived Hanzo Hasashi. He’s also the one who revives Queen Sindel for Shao Kahn, so it’d be interesting to have Quan Chi around, especially if Shang Tsung is still around, too.
Could we get some potential Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance vibes? The movie already had a character from that game (Nitara) and even had a character from Mortal Kombat 4 (Reiko), which was Quan Chi’s introduction to the franchise.
Basically, I’m saying that the movies aren’t exactly sticking with characters from the first couple of games, they’re pulling from all over.
It would also be interesting to see what the heroes think of Quan Chi when this movie is about the Hasashi bloodline. If the Hasashi bloodline is seen as such a valuable asset to Earthrealm, would that stand to reason that they’d think that Quan Chi resurrecting Hanzo is good? That’d be a disastrous twist.
- The new Sub-Zero
Just because Bi-Han is dead doesn’t mean Sub-Zero is gone. Kuai Liang is Bi-Han’s younger brother and is the one who takes the name Sub-Zero after Bi-Han’s death.
Except.
Um.
The Bi-Han in the movie has been around since the 1600s, so I’m gonna assume any little brother is dead. The Lin Kuei could still be thriving, though (it’s not like their entire clan was slaughtered), and if they are, I’m sure Shang Tsung’s gonna wanna get his hands on one of their warriors since Bi-Han was such a threat. This could, potentially, be Frost, who has animosity toward the new Sub-Zero (even if she’s his apprentice).
What’s important about the new Sub-Zero (whether they’re related to Bi-Han or not) is that it leads to a lot of big moments in the franchise. This Sub-Zero is an ally to our heroes, first of all. Second of all, this Sub-Zero’s actually on the run from the Lin Kuei, who is taking part in a cyber initiative to robotize everyone in the clan. This would be a way to introduce characters like Sektor and Smoke and depending on the direction of the movie, Cyber Sub-Zero.
Most significantly, it could potentially lead to Scorpion and Sub-Zero making amends. This takes a LOT of time though, especially if Quan Chi is around to manipulate Scorpion.
- Princess Kitana
Johnny Cage isn’t the only character I was hoping to see. I wanted to see Kitana, too, especially since I knew Mileena was gonna be in the movie.
While we don’t see Kitana, we do see her fan in Raiden’s temple, placed on display in a similar fashion to Shinnok’s amulet.
So … where is she?
My headcanon says that she’s in Outworld, working with Shao Kahn. Supposedly. Much like, well, every version of her, she loathes the Emperor of Outworld and is waiting for the chance to take him out. I think that could be something a sequel could explore, made especially interesting since our heroes met Mileena first. They could easily suspect that she either is Mileena (since they’re twins) or supports Outworld the way Mileena did. Kitana would have to work to build up trust, at least with newcomers like Cole, Sonya, and Jax. Raiden and Liu Kang may already be familiar with her since her fan was in the temple.
- Other potential characters
The rest of the characters I’m listing are ones I don’t have many ideas for, but they were either hinted at in the film, or I’m just hoping that they’ll show up.
-Nightwolf: seen on Sonya’s board when she’s talking to Cole about Mortal Kombat.
-Kotal Khan: also seen on Sonya’s board when she’s talking to Cole about Mortal Kombat.
-Baraka: since we got to see Mileena, it would make sense to see the source of those gnarly teeth of hers (the source is a race known as the Tarkatan, with Baraka being their leader).
-Jade: just because I want Jade in the movie, lol.
-Sheeva: with Goro now dead, we could use another Shokan on screen, and after her abysmal showing in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation I would LOVE to see her actually get to fight.
-Kintaro: of course, we could actually go in Shokan order and get Kintaro next (the sub-boss in the Mortal Kombat II video game) who hasn’t ever been on the big screen, also, since Kabal was in the movie and has a backstory of being burned alive by Kintaro, his appearance would make sense.
-Jarek: I’m not a diehard fan or anything, but since he shows up after Kano’s death in the games, I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes an appearance.
-Kenshi: much like Jade I just want this to happen, let this be one of the other Earthrealm warriors, please.
-Dark Raiden: purely because I like the plot twist of him being so set on protecting Earthrealm that he goes too far, there’s ZERO indication of this from this movie, but maybe in the future?
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What are you hoping for in potential sequels to Mortal Kombat? Are there characters you’re hoping to see? Plotlines you’re hoping get explored?
Fatalities you’re eager to see executed?
(Image: Warner Bros/HBO Max)
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