A new look at Mortal Kombat 2 hit the site yesterday and Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator and head of gaming developer NetherRealm Studios, has today shared some of the movie-themed skins coming to the Mortal Kombat 1 video game this year.
As we first reported on GameFragger.com, these highlight the character and costume designs for Johnny Cage, Kitana, Scorpion, and Shao Khan. This take on the four icons does right by the games and should look badass in action in Mortal Kombat 1 and the upcoming sequel.
Shao Khan, played by Martyn Ford (House of David) looks particularly impressive and the actor and bodybuilder was clearly the right choice to bring him to life on screen without having to head down the CG route (we recently asked him about playing the villain; find that here).
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Mortal Kombat 2 director Simon McQuoid said he worked with writer Jeremy Slater to "maximize everything" with Mortal Kombat 2, "just build on where we were and then make it significantly more intense, bigger in scale, bigger in variation, bigger across the board really as a cinematic experience."
"We go to lots of different realms, so that in itself gives the film a very distinct and varied visual approach," McQuoid continued, saying IMAX allowed them to "be bolder and swing harder."
The filmmaker added, "What I realized was go bigger, go bolder, don't hold back, and really feed off the history of Mortal Kombat more. Just let it rip, and that's what we've done."
The first movie was released in 2021 during the final months of the pandemic and only grossed $84.4 million worldwide. That was considerably more than expected and high viewership on HBO Max ensured Warner Bros. moved forward with a sequel that stands a good chance of being a hit later this year.
Back to these video game skins, and they now join an ever-growing list of popular options, including comic book characters Homelander, Omni-Man, and Peacemaker.
Mortal Kombat 2 arrives in theaters on October 24.
Developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, Mortal Kombat 1 introduces a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe that has been created by the Fire God Liu Kang, featuring reimagined versions of iconic characters as they've never been seen before.
In Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm's genre-defining Story Mode returns with an immersive cinematic narrative featuring unexpected twists on classic rivalries and original backstories for a wide-ranging cast of legendary fighters, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, and many others.