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The Mortal Kombat Movie Looks Like the Gross, Silly Fun You'd Expect

It will throw a new character into the gorey chaos of the fighting series.

Nothing about the first trailer for the Mortal Kombat movie signals that it’s going to become an all-time great video game movie adaptation (the bar is low, I know), but nothing about it made me recoil other than the supercut of gore at the end. So we’re off to as decent of a start as we can get.

The movie is set to launch in theaters (if you say so) and on HBO Max on April 16, and will be available on the streaming service for 30 days until May 16. Veteran Mortal Kombat fans will know the series revolves around a tournament featuring fighters from different realms. Meaning the cast is full of a pretty eclectic group of combatants, from military-trained Sonya Blade to otherworldly characters like Sub-Zero and Mileena. Well, now all these characters and fighting styles are being brought to the big screen again to take part in the tournament. And it looks like a fun, bloody romp.

Rather than make any of the old favorites the protagonist, Mortal Kombat will focus on a new character named Cole Young, who is thrown into the middle of the tournament because he was “chosen,” as represented by a birthmark shaped like the series’ iconic dragon logo.

I’d tell you to check out the trailer below, but it’s age-restricted since it gets a little gnarly at points. So you can watch it on YouTube.

Here’s the full cast list:

  • Lewis Tan as Cole Young
  • Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade
  • Josh Lawson as Kano
  • Tadanobu Asano as Raiden
  • Mehcad Brooks as Jax
  • Ludi Lin as Liu Kang
  • Chin Han as Shang Tsung
  • Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero
  • Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion
  • Max Huang as Kung Lao
  • Sisi Stringer as Mileena
  • Matilda Kimber as Emily Young
  • Laura Brent as Alison Young
  • Elissa Cadwell as Nitara
  • Daniel Nelson as Kabal

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While movies based on video games have gotten a bad rap over the years, video game adaptations are having a bit of a moment right now. Between successful shows like the Witcher Netflix series, and actually a few decent theatrical films like Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, the tide might finally be turning for video games being made into things you can watch instead. Recently, Sony and HBO announced they had finally cast Joel and Ellie for the Last of Us television series, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey portraying the surrogate father and daughter respectively.

About the Author

Kenneth Shepard

Kenneth is a Staff Writer at Fanbyte. He still periodically cries about the Mass Effect trilogy years after it concluded.