If you’re already having trouble containing excitement for Warner Bros.’ upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot, recent comments made by one of the film’s writers will likely do little to temper expectations.
Billed as a retelling of the titular tournament depicted in NetherRealm Studios’ original game, most of the story beats presented in Simon McQuoid’s first major directorial production will undoubtedly be familiar to longtime fans. Shang Tsung, at the behest of Shao Kahn, has commenced a competition between Outworld and Earthrealm’s greatest warriors, with the ultimate prize, assuming the former emerges victorious, being the invasion and inevitable subjugation of its people. We already know, of course, that Liu Kang and his fellow fighters will succeed in fending off their would-be conquerors, but not without much difficulty.
Standing in the way of victory on the other side of the arena will be a group of equally-skilled opponents, including none other than Scorpion. The character, often considered the mascot of NetherRealm’s franchise, has his own reasons for participating in the contest, most notably to exact revenge on his family and clan’s supposed killer.
According to co-writer Greg Russo over on Twitter, this subplot will be explored in the opening minutes of Mortal Kombat and will depict the moment Scorpion (still living at this point) is bested in brutal combat by Bi-Han, the original Sub-Zero. Responding to one fan’s anticipation for watching this play out, Russo said: “You have no idea. All I can say is the bar for opening scenes has been set.” Bold words, do doubt, and we’ll be interested to see if they can live up to the claim in just a few months’ time.
Mortal Kombat is out April 16th in theaters and on HBO Max. And at this point, we can hardly wait.
