As he was in the original arcade game and the 1995 movie (played by the brilliant Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), Shang Tsung will be the main villain of the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot, and Total Film has now shared a new look at Chin Han (The Dark Knight, Ghost in the Shell) as the evil sorcerer.
Shang Tsung, who usually serves as the host of Outworld's Mortal Kombat tournament, prolongs his life by stealing the souls of his defeated enemies, which appears to be what he's up to in this official still.
During the accompanying interview, director Simon McQuoid teased the movie's fight sequences and much-discussed "fatalities."
"It’s unapologetically brutal," he tells the mag. “We spent a lot of time talking about blood and what it looks like, but we just wanted to do it in a smart way. We have to make it mean something and we have to make you care. When we need to push it to 10 we definitely pushed it to 10, so there was no one shying away from that.
And there’s one moment I saw today that had me leaping for joy," McQuoid continues. "It’s like Christmas morning every day in the editing suite at the moment – I go in and the effects company have revved everything up... I just can't wait for you all to see it."
In Mortal Kombat, MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family's safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with.
Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?
Mortal Kombat is set for a simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max this April 12.