Hollywood very rarely dabbles in big-budget standalone movies anymore. Instead, franchising is the name of the game. The upcoming Mortal Kombat movie will introduce a new generation of fans to the iconic fighting game series. But one movie is not enough to fully explore the complex mythology of Mortal Kombat. In an interview with CBR, the film's co-screenwriter Greg Russo confirmed that he has already planned out two sequels.

"When I wrote Mortal Kombat, I conceived it as a trilogy; I didn't even tell the people I was working with I was doing it as a trilogy. Just as a writer, you never want to paint yourself into a corner or shutdown where your storyline could go. When I was writing the first film, I was always, in the back of my mind, outlining two more so I always knew where things could go. I would love to come back and explore, there's just so much of the mythology that we didn't have the time to get into [but] two hours is the right length for a first film. But there's more, there's the Shaolin monks, there's the special forces, there's all these spinoffs that you could see."

Greg Russo went on to explain that while the first Mortal Kombat largely takes place on Earth, the sequels would take the action off-world to Edenia, and a host of other realms that are an integral part of the lore of the games. This would also allow for more non-human fighters to be introduced in an organic manner, and do justice to the gigantic scope of the storyline from the games.

Aside from exploring new locations, fans would expect to see more fan-favorite characters take center stage in the sequels. There was a great deal of outrage among long-time fans when it was revealed that the first Mortal Kombat movie would not feature Johnny Cage. In a previous interview, producer Todd Garner had promised that when/if the sequel gets made, Cage would have a prominent role to play in the proceedings.

"The reason we held back on Johnny Cage is because he's a very egotistical guy, he's a scoundrel, he's funny, he's bigger-than-life...and so is Kano. So are we going to have two guys competing and trying to [be funnier or more egotistical] or do you hold Johnny Cage because, God willing, we're able to do another one?"

Directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, Mortal Kombat features a lead ensemble cast of Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Bridges, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young and Laura Brent as Allison Young. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on April 23. This news originated at CBR.com.