Inspired by the worldwide video game sensation now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind finds vicious, power-mad Kano determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Assisted by a trio of cold Black Dragon mercenaries, he embarks on a brutal assault from town to defenceless town. The choice is simple: Kneel or be annihilated.
But when the cocky and talented but undisciplined Kenshi doesn’t take a knee, Kano and his clan destroy the young warrior, taking his eyesight and his confidence. Under the tutelage of reluctant, retired Kuai Liang, the only one powerful enough to challenge the malevolent Kano, Kenshi finds renewed hope and a clear path to redemption. But will it be enough to stop Kano from decimating all of Earthrealm?
You can find out the answer to that question on Blu-ray and Digital starting today, and earlier this week, we sat down for an enlightening conversation with Mortal Kombat Legends Supervising Producer Rick Morales. At New York Comic Con this weekend, it was revealed that the next chapter will be titled Cage Match, with Joel McHale set to reprise his role as the badass Johnny Cage.
We discussed that and asked Rick about taking the helm of Snow Blind, a very different type of story set in this animated Mortal Kombat world. The filmmaker also produced the upcoming Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons feature, so we'll be sharing that part of this interview a little later this week!
For now, check out what Rick had to tell us about both Mortal Kombat Legends projects below.
You’re coming off the back of New York Comic Con where you announced this Mortal Kombat franchise will continue with Cage Match. Between that and Snow Blind’s unique setting, is the plan now for this Legends series to tell more standalone stories?
Well, at least for these two that was my plan. With Snow Blind, I was setting things up to where you could tell standalone stories or go back to the video game stuff and tell some of those tales as well.
I loved this Wasteland setting, but what was it about that and telling such a different story set in this world that really excited you as a producer and director?
I think coming off the second film, we told a story that most Mortal Kombat fans were familiar with to some degree. For me, that second one got so big and so heavy with characters and fan service, I knew if we were able to do another one, I wanted to pare it down a little bit and refocus. That was my goal for this one - to tell a smaller story.
With Cage Match, the focus is obviously going to be on Johnny Cage. Are you particularly excited about that and bringing Joel McHale back to that role?
Yeah, Joel McHale as Johnny Cage was just one of those genius choices. I’m not giving credit to myself there. That was Wes Gleason, our voice director. I think it was him who brought up Joel as a possibility. As soon as he said it, it was like, ‘Ding!’ in my head. When you go in to record him, he’s six feet tall and built, you say, ‘Oh my God, he is Johnny Cage!’ Then, he’s snarky and funny, and it’s like, ‘Man, he’s dead perfect.’
Right away, from the time we made the first film, it was in my head that Johnny had to be the lead at some point. We had to let him take over one of these films to showcase him. He’s just so good in the role.
As a director, you’ve done a lot of projects aimed at younger audiences like Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Beware The Batman. Mortal Kombat is on another level with a lot of violence and blood. How much fun did you have delving into all that for Snow Blind?
I just love it. I feel like I’ve been very blessed in my career to be able to do a bunch of different thing I don’t know too many folks who have had the opportunity to do a Scooby-Doo and then do a Mortal Kombat. They’re just wildly different. You go from a LEGO movie to Injustice…it’s fun for me to play in all of these worlds.
I have children of my own, so it’s nice now and again to make something aimed at them. They sure as hell can’t watch these Mortal Kombat movies [Laughs]. When they’re older, they’ll be able to check them out and go, ‘What is wrong with you, dad?’ I don’t know, I feel very fortunate to play in so many different worlds.
With this Mortal Kombat movie, I felt like we can do different genres. We can get into a Spaghetti Western feel and do a Mad Max sort of thing. Although maybe initially, that may be shocking or unfamiliar with the audience, we can have it make sense in the world and lore of Mortal Kombat,
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind will be released on Digital platforms and Blu-ray on October 11.