While the entire cast of Warner Bros.’ upcoming Mortal Kombat movie is already known, there are still some characters we’ve yet to see.
Until now, one of these has been the mysterious Earthrealm native Kabal and, judging by a new poster released for the reboot earlier this week, it looks as if he’ll be fighting for the bad guys in sorcerer Shang Tsung’s titular tournament. While series creator NetherRealm Studios has played fast and loose with his background (several narrative revisions and retcons tend to do that), Kabal’s design and origin story has always involved two very specific elements. One of these is his trademark pair of hook sword weapons and the other stipulates that the face concealed behind a life-saving respirator has been hideously deformed as a result of a previous battle.
In the games, this physically and mentally scarring event is canonically attributed to Shokan warrior Kintaro, though it’s likely this will be changed – or just simply not revealed – for his live-action incarnation. Whatever the case, check out the image below for a first look at the masked menace.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Sub-Zero and Mileena, the mercenary will clearly exhibit no love for the home side, so to speak, in director Simon McQuoid’s adaptation, and we fully expect Kabal to share ample screen time with fellow Black Dragon member Kano. As for who – or what – he’ll be going up against in the ring, we hope they have keen senses, or else the outcome definitely won’t be favorable for the good guys.
Mortal Kombat arrives in theaters and on HBO Max next month, April 16th. For those who missed the latest news, see here for some awesome production stills depicting Sub-Zero and Scorpion readying themselves for battle.