As someone who grew up when the Mortal Kombat games were the biggest (and most controversial) things on the planet, I’ve always had a soft spot for the franchise. With the hotly anticipated Mortal Kombat II coming to theaters before the halfway point of the 2026 movie schedule, I decided to go back and play through the early games with the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection, and it got me thinking…
There is so much from those early games, specifically Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat III, that I really want to see in the upcoming video game movie and the eventual third installment. From iconic characters being introduced (and done right this time) to storylines from those old games coming to the big screen to those signature fatalities, there’s a lot I’m hoping for…
First Off, I Need To See An Actual Mortal Kombat Tournament
Though I enjoyed the first Mortal Kombat movie (the 2021 version) more than most critics, there was still a lot that it lacked. One of the biggest omissions was the actual Mortal Kombat tournament from the games. It was mentioned multiple times, and it looked like we were going to see the champions of Earthrealm battle their Outworld counterparts in an actual bracket instead of the unofficial fights that took place throughout, but it never came to be.
With Mortal Kombat II pulling from the 1993 arcade game on which it is based, I’m hopeful the next movie in the franchise doesn’t deviate from the path as much as its predecessor. I’m not saying I’m going to be pissed if classic tournament locations like the Portal, the Tower, or Kahn’s Arena are omitted, but I’ll be even more stoked if they are used.
Shao Kahn Has To Look Like The Badass From The Games
There are people out there who’ll defend Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, but I’m not one of them. Though it was cool to see so many characters on screen at once (this was 20-plus years before Avengers: Endgame), a lot of the biggest badasses were made to look like jacked-up morons. Of course, I’m talking about the way they did Shao Kahn dirty by making him look like a chump after he killed Johnny Cage in the opening scene.
Anyone who’s played any Mortal Kombat game with Shao Kahn as the final boss knows, the emperor of Outworld is legitimately one of the most formidable villains out there. If Mortal Kombat II and its sequel are going to work, Kahn’s going to need to be a Thanos-level threat and not some guy who can’t figure out if he’s going to be funny or menacing. I’ll take the powerful laughing taunt, but make sure he’s cracking some skulls.
The Third Movie Is Going To Be Shao Kahn Invading Earthrealm, Right?
Mortal Kombat III doesn’t get as much love as its predecessors, but the 1995 fighting game did take the franchise in a cool direction (even more so when the Ultimate edition came out with all the omitted fighters). One of my favorite parts of this game for decades has been the way in which it showed what happened to Earthrealm after a vengeful and pissed off Shao Kahn came up with a way to start an invasion.
While I’m not saying I want the undated Mortal Kombat threquel to come up with an equally convoluted way of having Kahn and his army invade Earth, I think a decimated planet being saved by what’s left of Earth’s fighters could be a lot of fun. I mean, we could introduce some badass characters from the game in the process. And can you imagine how cool levels like Rooftop, Bank, and Subway would look? I need this like right now!
We Need More Fatalities!
I’m not saying I was unimpressed with the fatalities on display in 2021’s Mortal Kombat movie, but they left much to be desired. That said, I need even more over-the-top and utterly brutal character deaths in the next two movies (just no “Brutalities” or “Babalities” from Mortal Kombat III, please). These were what got many of us to drop quarter after quarter after quarter in arcade cabinets back in the day, and pulling these off made you the king of the playground, or at least someone everyone called a liar.
I’m not saying I need to watch Cole Young or Johnny Cage go on some kind of spiritual journey to learn how to pull off an Animality like Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation or anything like that, but something paying homage to one of the franchise’s most iconic features would go a long way.
I Will Be Shocked If We Don’t See Reptile At Some Point
We’ve had Scorpion and Sub-Zero, and it appears that we’ll soon see Noob Saibot in all his glory, but what about the other iconic ninja from the Mortal Kombat games? You know, Reptile? After first being introduced as an unlockable opponent in the franchise starter back in 1992 (you had to jump through some serious hoops to get the honor) and becoming a playable fighter in Mortal Kombat II, Reptile has been up there with his slightly more popular counterparts.
So, after not seeing him in the first movie, I will be shocked if Reptile doesn’t have some kind of appearance in either of the upcoming sequels. I mean, from his ability to turn invincible to the way he spits venom at his opponents to his hard-hitting attacks, having him show up would be so awesome.
More Than Anything, I Want More Callbacks To The Franchise’s Early Days
Don’t get me wrong, the newer Mortal Kombat games are great and have taken the franchise in a whole new direction. However, I can’t sit here and act like I prefer the classic games to anything that’s going on now. The graphics and game mechanics are more refined these days, but you understand the power of nostalgia.
Playing the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection pretty much nonstop for the past week or so has me on a trip down memory lane, and I would love for the two upcoming movies to pull from that. You can call it fan service, but that’s why we watch these movies in the first place.
Will Mortal Kombat II include all of this, any of this, or none of this? I’m not really sure, but I plan on finding out as soon as the movie opens on the big screen next May. Until then, I’ll just keep getting pissed off at the cheating AI in the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection.