It happened. Earlier today we got the Mortal Kombat trailer. Now we have a ton of new images along with the official poster. Mortal Kombat fans have been waiting very patiently for the first trailer teasing the upcoming reboot. Well, wait no longer, because the trailer is finally here and boasts the kind of epic martial arts action and brutal violence that you were hoping for. Thus far, all we have really seen from the movie are small glimpses of footage and a handful of images and posters, so being gifted a trailer after all this time should satisfy fans of the hugely popular video game series.
Mortal Kombat has made the interesting choice to introduce a new character to the decade-spanning lore, MMA fighter Cole Young, putting him front and centre of the upcoming reboot. Cole Young is more than accustomed to taking a beating for money, and is blissfully unaware of his heritage, or why Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt him down.
Fearing for his family's safety, Cole Young is forced to go in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, Cole finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth's greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Mortal Kombat is directed by Simon McQuoid, making his feature film directorial debut, working from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham. The movie stars Wu Assassins actor Lewis Tan as new character and lead, Cole Young. Of course, it would be sacrilegious for Mortal Kombat not to include a few familiar names and faces, and so we have Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Josh Lawson as Kano, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Max Huang as Kung Lao, and Daniel Nelson as Kabal.
Debuting director Simon McQuoid has assured fans that the Mortal Kombat material will be taken seriously, something is evident in the trailer, with the filmmaker saying, "I wanted to make sure that everyone respected the material, the lore of Mortal Kombat, the fans and the love they have for this. Everyone was clear on it."
Of course, respecting the world of Mortal Kombat means not shying away from the violence that the video games have become so renowned for, and thankfully star Lewis Tan has previously revealed some insight into this very aspect. "There are some crazy fatalities," Tan insists. "We've picked a couple of iconic ones. There's a lot of really cool signature moves that you'll see, a lot of Easter eggs that we snuck into the film, but there are some really badass fatalities that I can't wait to see on the big screen. They're brutal, man. They, they don't hold back."
Mortal Kombat is scheduled to be released in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 16, 2021.
