Very few video game movies are any good, or even watchable for that matter, but one of the best was actually one of the first. The original Mortal Kombat from 1995 still stands tall among video game adaptations, so it's no surprise that fans have wanted to return to Outworld for years now. There have been fits and starts on a Mortal Kombat rebootm, but things seemed to be taking a step in the right direction when James Wan was brought onboard to produce. Although it has taken some time, it now looks like that new Mortal Kombat project may actually happen, as the first character details of the film may have been revealed.
If Mortal Kombat is known for one thing, it's over the top violence. But another iconic aspect are the wild roster or fighters, and the reboot looks like it will be full of new and returning faces. That Hashtag Show has reportedly learned the characters that will appear in the film, and the details of the roles. The Mortal Kombat reboot will focus on a brand new character by the name of Cole Turner. The new lead is a Philadelphia boxer, widower and single father who cares about his daughter Emily more than anything. The prophecy chaser Sonya Blade will recruit Cole Turner to compete in the tournament. Joining Cole are a bunch of familiar fighters, both heroes and villains, including Kano, Jax, Liu Kang, Shang Tsung and Lord Raiden. Some of the newcomers include Mileena, Kung Lao, Drahmin, Kabal, Nitara and Reiko.
One of the more interesting things about this character list is who isn't on it. It doesn't appear that Johnny Cage will be returning, and there is no sign of Goro so far. The most glaring omission though are Sub-Zero and Scorpion, although as That Hashtag Show notes, they may be missing from the character list because the production is seeking out trained martial artists for these masked ninjas. Also quite interesting is that the character list shows that for the part of Raiden, they are looking for a 14-year-old. That would certainly be a stark departure from the wizened thunder god played by Christopher Lambert in the original film.
This character list isn't quite the same thing as a release date or a teaser trailer, but it indicates that there is perhaps finally some movement on this project that people have been hoping would happen for some time. How ironic would it be if the first great video game movie were a reboot of one of the first video game movies? If nothing else, it will probably be a lot of fun. My only qualm from this info is having an entirely new character be the lead in the film. The whole point of adapting from an existing property is to realize the characters people already love onscreen. Using someone entirely new is risky. And although Liu Kang is in the still developing project, this new character obviously pushes him into more of a supporting role.
Commercial director Simon McQuoid is set to helm Mortal Kombat based on a script by Greg Russo who is also working on the script for the Resident Evil reboot. A release date has not been set at this time but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest on the Mortal Kombat reboot and we'll let you know when you can test your might.
