Joe Taslim's (The Raid, The Night Comes For Us) take on icy assassin Sub-Zero was an undeniable highlight of Mortal Kombat, and even though his character met his end at the hands (well, flaming skull breath) of Scorpion in the movie's climactic battle, the recent teaser trailer for MK II confirmed that Taslim will return as Noob Saibot.
As any fan of the long-running video game series will be aware, Bi-Han was resurrected as the shadowy ninja by Quan Chi after being killed-off in the first game, and there was a definite hint that Shang Tsung has similar plans for the character at the end of the first movie.
During a 2021 interview with THR, Taslim was asked about the possibility of suiting-up as Saibot for Mortal Kombat II.
"Yes, that's the next transformation of the character, but of course, we don't know yet. If the fans want this franchise to continue, then there's a strong chance that the next step for Bi-Han is to play Noob Saibot. Fingers crossed, but I hope it happens because I definitely want to play that character. But to be honest, the most interesting path, in my opinion, is to do a prequel. It would be a story about Bi-Han and his training in the Lin Kuei. When he got abducted by the Lin Kuei, his parents were killed. So it would be the process of him and his brother becoming assassins, and I think that's quite interesting as well."
In the games, Bi-Han's more honourable brother Kuai Liang takes up the mantle of Sub-Zero, so even if we don't get a full prequel film, there's a strong possibility that Taslim will get his wish for an origin story via flashbacks.
Here's what director Simon McQuoid had to say about adapting the character for live-action.
"To translate his distinctive ‘shadow wraith’ look onto film, we drew most of our inspiration from the recent version of the game. Cappi had the brilliant idea of creating unique materials and finishes that would reflect the light while always being true to Bi-Han’s singular idea of being a shadow. His body was made of low-gloss textured black rubber under-skin, while his armour was organic in style and featured a dark grey pearlescent reflective finish. The shadow clone within him is a different character, so we needed a different costume and color, but they shared materials, ensuring his unique look was clearly separated from his shadow clone while always being born from the same character."
Check out a new look at Noob Saibot below (via Collider).
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.