credit: Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat’s big return to live-action was a mixed bag upon release. There’s no doubt that the feature is a million times better than its 90s counterparts. On the other hand, the 2021 reboot still needed another draft or two before going into production. However, the first Ten minutes of Mortal Kombat are simply perfect. It reminded fans of the iconic Scorpion/Sub-Zero rivalry. That sequence showcased that the series could translate well to live-action effortlessly. Unfortunately, the rest of Mortal Kombat never recaptures the magic it had in the opening minutes. On the bright side, the performances for most characters are definitely spot-on.
Nevertheless, it was far from a terrible film. Mortal Kombat is a financial success, so Warner Bros greenlighting a sequel was a strong guarantee. Fans have been anticipating the plot of the upcoming sequel. It helps that a franchise favorite will join Cole Young, Jax, and the rest of the crew for their next adventure.
Nearly two years later, though, so much has changed since the release of Mortal Kombat. First, the Warner Brothers Discovery merger is now owned by David Zaslav. The Warner Bros CEO has been on a canceling spree since he took over the old regime. Though there haven’t been many updates on the Mortal Kombat film, Tan spoke recently about the sequel; The Mortal Kombat actor revealed that everything is going smoothly in the pre-production process. Tan also told Comicbook.com that MK co-creator Ed Boon had given it the stamp of approval:
Credit: Mortal Kombat
“(The merger) impacts a lot, but not really us in particular because New Line is the studio that is under the branch of Warner Bros. But they’re very happy with the movie, and obviously, it performed really well. It’s one of the most-viewed films of their Warner Bros. slate, even though it came out at the worst time ever possible. But no, we’re full steam ahead. And now, we have Ed Boon with us as well, so we got the stamp of approval from the legend himself. #2 is just going to be absolutely insane. Way bigger.”
Interestingly enough, Boon didn’t market the first film much until the day it was released. That seems like a telling sign about he felt about the movie. The MK co-creator hasn’t outright said anything bad about the 2021 feature, though, so all we can do is simply speculate. However, Boon seems all-in on the sequel. The Mortal Kombat co-creator spoke with Polygon about being more involved with the upcoming sequel:
Credit: Mortal Kombat
“Warner Bros. owns the IP, but I’m actually more involved now. I’m involved with the animated series and the next movie that’s coming out, so it’s very exciting because there’s some really cool stuff that’s being worked on. Just being involved in the scripts and which characters we’re going to include [in projects], and all that stuff, is very exciting for me. Before, I was involved, but not in an official capacity. Now, it’s a little bit more official. And it’s an exciting time – I can’t wait to see people’s reaction to some of the crazy stuff that’s coming out.”
The script is written by Jeremy Slater. The screenwriter was the lead writer for Moon Knight and The Exorcist series on Fox. Ed Boon being vocal about the upcoming sequel is a great thing. It gives fans hope that Mortal Kombat 2 will be better than its predecessor. At the moment, there’s no set release date for the sequel; however, it’s great that everything is moving along smoothly. The dramatic shift has impacted Warner Brothers Discovery and the film industry, but it seems that the creative process remains the same.
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