This year will see the release of both Mortal Kombat 2 and Street Fighter, and while there's a fairly significant gap between the two video game movies—May 8 and October 16—a rivalry between them kicked off last December.
That's down to actor Andrew Schulz, who told fans at the Game Awards, "This movie is not possible without you guys. We are so grateful. And we're not the only game that appreciates your patronage. There's another game out there. They also flew from around the world to be here because they appreciate you. So give it up for the whole cast of 'Mortal Kombat 2'!"
"I' m just kidding, I'm just kidding. They don't care about you," the Dan Hibiki actor added. "They only care about money. We care about money and you. 'Street Fighter' forever!"
The comedian faced some backlash online (others just saw it as a fun dig), and during a recent interview (via GameFragger.com), Mortal Kombat star Lewis Tan—who plays the newly created Cole Young—hit back at Schulz.
"When you watch the fights, and you watch even the drama in the second one, it's so Mortal Kombat, it's so tuned in. Probably the best fight film of the year, I'd say. Well, there's one other contender," he shared. "Andrew Schulz is the last person that should be talking shit on that stage. Obviously not a fighter, not even really an actor. We heard it."
Tan added, "I got a lot of friends on that cast. Rayna [Vallandingham], incredible martial artist, we did Cobra Kai together. She's in Street Fighter. Andrew Koji, who's very good friends with Joe Taslim and myself, also great martial artist."
Asked if there is now a rivalry between Mortal Kombat 2 and Street Fighter, the actor replied, "I mean, yeah. Let's go, bro. I love a good rivalry, so let's go. The trailer looked awesome. We'll see what's up. Numbers don't lie."
Tan is likely referring to the fact that, on YouTube, the latest Mortal Kombat 2 trailer has racked up 23 million views in 12 days, compared to the 3 million views the Street Fighter teaser has received over the past two months.
While Cole was the first Mortal Kombat's lead character, he was largely absent from the sequel's recent trailer and is expected to take a back seat to Karl Urban's Johnny Cage.
In the movie, the fan favourite champions are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds-barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Alongside Urban as Johnny Cage, Mortal Kombat 2 stars Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, with Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.
Director Simon McQuoid returns to helm the follow-up to his explosive 2021 cinematic adventure, from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The film is produced by Todd Garner, James Wan, Toby Emmerich, E. Bennett Walsh and McQuoid, and executive produced by Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Slater, and Lawrence Kasanoff.
Which of these movies are you most looking forward to watching in theaters: Mortal Kombat 2 or Street Fighter?