Mortal Kombat 2has to break a disappointing franchise trend to be the sequelMortal Kombatdeserves. With an expansive modern slate of video game movie adaptations, ranging from well-received to critically slammed, theupcomingMortal Kombat 2hopes to join the latter part of the conversation and finally give fans of the fighting game series the live-action experience they deserve. Unfortunately,every attempt to bringMortal Kombatto life in a different media has struggled when it comes to sequels.
Mortal Kombatkicked off in 1992 as a beloved arcade classic, spawning the most successful fighting game series and one of the biggest media franchises ever. Warner Bros and NetherRealm Studios' brutal franchise of iconic characters and bloody fatalities produced an unstoppable and beyond passionate fan base. Decades later, those fans have seen the complicated development of various movie adaptations, from the 1995 cult classic to the animatedMortal Kombat Legendsseries. After prevailing through development hell, the James Wan-producedMortal Kombatmovie, led byoriginal character Cole Young, showed long-awaited hope of a strong future.
Annihilation And Battle Of The Realms Were Worse Than Their Predecessors
WhetherMortal Kombatcould translate well to a theatrical event was unclear, but New Line Cinema ultimately pushed toward a movie adaptation of the game. They geared up for the release of the firstMortal Kombatmovie in 1995 and brought in newcomer Paul W.S. Anderson to direct, who would go on to service other major franchises, directing theResident Evilseries andAlien vs Predator. While critics and audiences believed thatMortal Kombatfailed to deliver on the immersion of the games in many ways,it still grossed $122.2 million at the box office and garnered a cult-classic status.
The studio tried to capitalize on the initial movie’s massive success with asequel in 1997 titledMortal Kombat Annihilation.Anderson did not return to direct, and most of the characters were recast, with the resulting movie being a commercial failure, a box-office bomb, and a negatively reviewed disaster. This led to a halt in future live-action movie plans and damaged the potential of the franchise beyond the games.
NetherRealm Studios did release several animated follow-ups, including the fully rated RLegendsseries. The first entry,Scorpion’s Revenge, was an instant hit, but the sequels failed to capture the same widespread attentionor make any kind of splash. There are avariety of theories about the story ofMortal Kombat 2, but no matter the direction it goes, it must break the franchise’s disappointing sequel trend.
Mortal Kombat 2 Can Make Or Break The Live-Action Franchise
The Boys' Karl Urban Is A Fan-Favorite Character And The Rest Of The Cast Is Stacked
Mortal Kombat: Annihilationhas been endlessly criticized by fans and leads the conversation about how wrong a video game adaptation can go, standing at 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 24% audience score. Years later, Warner Bros, in collaboration with New Line Cinemas, finally managed to get a potential new series of live-action movies off the ground and released the rebootMortal Kombattheatrically and on streaming in 2021. The simultaneous release in theaters and on streaming was due to the pandemic, butMortal Kombatexcelled past the negativity surrounding it and made for one of Max’s biggest launches.
1995
47%
57%
1997
4%
24%
2020
90%
86%
2021
50%
59%
55%
2022
80%
87%
2023
2025
N/A
Lewis Tan, Hiroyuki Sanada, and more of the first movie’s celebrated cast are set to return for the sequel. Simon McQuoid also returns to direct and fulfill his vision, with a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, who’s known for his work onMoon KnightandGodzilla X Kong:The New Empire.The Boysstar Karl Urban will portray fan-favorite character Johnny Cage, whose involvement was teased at the end of the first movie; Tati Gabrielle, Adeline Rudloph, and more new faces also join theMortal Kombat 2cast, which will hopefully be an improvement from the first film.
Why It Took So Long To Get A New Live-Action Mortal Kombat
If Mortal Kombat 2 Doesn’t Deliver, The Franchise May Be Doomed Forever
Mortal Kombat2021 wasn’t perfect. However, the reboot hit certain notes that the franchise needs to hit, including the visuals and the violence. This is important, considering the fight for the new Mortal Kombat movies was a decades-long affair. Midway Games, the original development team behindMortal Kombat, before Warner Bros secured their assets and launched NetherRealm Studios, was unable to recover fromAnnihilation, and filed for bankruptcy in 2009. TheMKfranchise would only return to the big screen decades later.
Mortal Kombat’s Cole Young Story Broke A 29-Year-Old Tradition That Only Mortal Kombat 2 Can Restore
Mortal Kombat’s divisive Cole Young story broke a decades-old franchise tradition that can hopefully be restored in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2.
The widespread belief going into the 2010s was that there could never be a successfulMortal Kombatmovie, so Warner Bros. struggled to get production going. Things started to heat up in 2015 when James Wan was hired as a producer.After years in development and securing a desired R rating,Mortal Kombatwas released in theaters and HBO Max. TheMKgames have a very particular tone that can be difficult to translate in live-action, not to mention how the tournament format can get repetitive in a movie franchise. Hopefully,Mortal Kombat 2will succeed where previous sequels failed.
