Mortal Kombat II features quite a few Fatalities, and arguably the least surprising death is Lewis Tan's character, Cole Young.
Young never appeared in the video games, and fans weren't exactly ecstatic when he was introduced as the protagonist of the first movie. The trailers for MKII appeared to make it clear that the character would not be as prominently featured in the sequel, and there was a lot of speculation that he'd be killed off fairly early.
Though he did end up having a little more screen time than many expected, Cole was indeed one of the first casualties after having his head crushed during his tournament fight with Shao Kahn.
During a new interview with Total Film, writer Jeremy Slater confirmed that Young was killed off so unceremoniously in large part due to the "very vocal" negative fan response.
"The idea was very much we need some deaths that are going to shock everybody. I love Lewis Tan. I think Lewis is the best, but Cole was a character that the hardcore fans did not respond to in the first movie, and they were very vocal about that, and very vocal about calling for his head. So Cole was a great example of a character where killing him would shock the casual fans, the people who are not terminally online and just went to see the movie and enjoyed it. It's going to be a really shocking moment for them, but the hardcore fans are expecting him to die."
Fans may have seen Cole's death coming, but Liu Kang's demise during the final battle was definitely more of a surprise.
"You contrast [Cole's death] with someone like Liu Kang, and there's a character that is not going to be that shocking for the casual fans, but for the hardcore fans who know that canonically, Liu Kang is the guy who wins the tournament, Liu Kang is the guy who kills Shao Kahn – that is a shocking moment that tells you, 'Oh, the gloves are off now. Nobody is safe.' We have now diverged from canon in a way that leaves the ultimate fate of the tournament up in the air."
"So it was really about figuring out who are those deaths that are going to have the most impact, that are going to really drive the story forward, and who is going to surprise the most amount of people, and then just trying to find a satisfying balance."
How much of an impact any death in this universe is going to have is debatable, since characters can be resurrected without much effort. Kang states that he's going to return from the Netherrealm with Kung Lao, and Sonya Blade makes it clear that the plan is to force sorcerer Quan Chi to bring their fallen friends back in the next movie.
Assuming there is a next movie!
Mortal Kombat II had a lower-than-expected opening weekend at the box office, especially internationally. The latest updates place its global total at around $70 million, but it is worth keeping in mind that the sequel had a (relatively) small production budget of $80 million.
You can check out a full spoiler breakdown here.
From New Line Cinema comes the latest high-stakes installment in the blockbuster video game franchise in all its brutal glory, Mortal Kombat II. This time, the fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—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.
Karl Urban stars as Johnny Cage, alongside 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 videogame 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.
Joining McQuoid behind the camera are director of photography Stephen F. Windon, production designer Yohei Taneda, editor Stuart Levy and costume designer Cappi Ireland, with casting by Rich Delia and music by Benjamin Wallfisch.
New Line Cinema Presents an Atomic Monster/Broken Road Production, a Fireside Films Production, Mortal Kombat II.