Mortal Kombat Movie Will Take a Page from Marvel Studios' Playbook

CBR

By Anthony Gramuglia

Published Mar 22, 2019

According to Mortal Kombat writer Greg Russo, the upcoming reboot film will draw some inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Mortal Kombat film will take a page out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe playbook -- but not, perhaps, the element that you're expecting.

"Is there really a super serious dark version of this? Yeah, I guess, but that’s not Mortal Kombat to me," writer Greg Russo explained to DiscussingFilm. "To me there needs to a certain levity and a fun tone. While there is violence and there is fighting and real stakes and emotional stakes for all the people involved, at the end of the day it still should be fun and [have] a sense of humor. As much as I hate to throw up the direct comparison to Marvel, they’re still fun and always cracking jokes but obviously ours will be a bit more adult."

Notably, the Mortal Kombat franchise has always taken a comedic approach. Additionally, the first Mortal Kombat film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson had a very distinct sense of humor.

Russo also teased what characters to expect in the upcoming film. "I’m not at liberty to completely give it away, but I can say certainly that the original seven are important. I think they’re important to any adaptation to this property," he said.

The original seven mentioned here are the original characters from the first Mortal Kombat game: Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Raiden, Kano, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The first game also featured Shang Tsung, Goro and Reptile as non-playable characters, though they would become playable in future installments. All ten of these characters appeared in Anderson's Mortal Kombat film.

Recent reports indicate that other characters outside the original seven may appear in the film, including Jackson "Jax" Bridges from Mortal Kombat II and an original protagonist named Cole Turner. According to another report, an animated feature may be in development as well.

James Wan signed on to produce a Mortal Kombat reboot through his production company Atomic Monster with New Line Cinema in 2015. Since then, prolific Australian commercial director Simon McQuoid has signed on to helm the project, with Russo penning the screenplay. No official release date or cast has been announced.