As first and foremost a movie with a story to tell, crew members involved with Warner Bros.’ upcoming Mortal Kombat made the conscious decision early on not to include popular characters for the sake of representation.
The ever-growing roster of NetherRealm’s franchise has almost crossed into the realm of triple digits, after all, making such a feat nigh-on impossible. While all of the heavy hitters, so to speak (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Jax, Shang Tsung, etc.) have made the cut for this year’s reboot, others, which don’t necessarily demand top billing, have been left behind to be used in potential future sequels. Examples of these omissions include Rain and Johnny Cage, with the former, at one point in time, having been on the docket to appear.
Of those iconic combatants confirmed to show up, however, director Simon McQuoid stresses that every last one of them will be given the ample screen time they deserve. Speaking during a recent set visit attended by the press, McQuoid said: “I think there’s great humanity and human connection within the film that goes across all the characters. It doesn’t just go across, just not those guys, it’s every character has their sort of moment to shine.”
Of the overarching themes present throughout the narrative, he describes some of the scenes not involving participants in the titular tournament beating each other senseless as akin to family-oriented and even “sweet at times.” While it’s not immediately clear what exactly this refers to, the camaraderie exhibited by Earthrealm’s warriors will certainly be one vessel for this, as too, will Cole Young. As a newcomer not appearing in the games, actor Lewis Tan’s role is said to be a partial surrogate for the audience and will no doubt ground what’s otherwise a dark fantasy affair defined by explicit violence and gore.
Will Mortal Kombat strike a perfect balance between action and tranquility? Find out for yourself when it lands next month on April 16th.
