If you’ve wanted an epic live-action battle between iconic video game rivals, Scorpion and Sub-Zero, 2021 will be your year. In the Mortal Kombat film series’ upcoming reboot, director Simon McQuoid plans to kick things off by giving fans exactly what they want with a ten-minute opener focusing on the two iconic characters.
During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, McQuoid offered up plenty of new details about the film, including a brand-new character Cole Young (played by Lewis Tan), as well as detailing what introduces us to this world. 2021’s Mortal Kombat will begin with a 10-minute opening sequence set in feudal Japan. This will be long before Scorpion and Sub-Zero had their supernatural abilities, showcasing the rivalry of their human counterparts Hanzo Hasashi and Bi-Han.
We’ll conclude this scene in what McQuoid describes as a “pretty nasty hand-to-hand combat” between them. The actor playing Scorpion, Hiroyuki Sanada, offered up his feelings on this legendary video game rivalry coming to the big screen. [Hanzo’s] the leader of a ninja clan, and he’s strong, but also… at the beginning, he’s a peaceful family man,” Sanada says. “It is like a family drama with excitingly brutal fighting. That’s the image of this movie for me,” he adds.
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For director Simon McQuoid, he says the story of Bi-Han and Hanzo “needed to be told within the fight.” He continues, “There are some great camera moves to give it a bit of dynamism, that make it really enjoyable. We needed it to be really elemental and really brutal. It’s not a shiny film… I wanted the dirt and the grime to come through.”
“In “Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes 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, he 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. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?”
Mortal Kombat is scheduled for a simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max this April 16th and stars Lewis Tan (Deadpool 2) as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee (The Meg) as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson (Bombshell) as Kano; Tadanobu Asano (Midway) as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks (Supergirl) as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Ludi Lin (Aquaman) as Liu Kang; with Chin Han (Skyscraper) as Shang Tsung; Joe Taslim (Star Trek Beyond) as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero; and Hiroyuki Sanada (Skyscraper) 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.
