Mortal Kombat may have received mixed reviews from critics since it launched on HBO Max, but that hasn't dampened fan fervour for the movie.
The R-rated adaptation surpassed Warner Bros.' US box office estimations during its opening weekend, with Deadline reporting that Mortal Kombat pulled in $23.3 million. That brings the film's global takings to $51 million, which isn't too bad in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fact that it's releasing simultaneously in the US.
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With fans seemingly loving the movie adaptation, and Warner Bros. pleased with its box office numbers, thoughts have inevitable turned to a potential sequel. Mortal Kombat was packed with characters from the video game series, but fans will be desperate to see their favorite added to the film's roster if Mortal Kombat 2 is ever greenlit.
We already know that one fan favorite - Johnny Cage - will appear if Warner Bros. agrees to a sequel, but what about other possible cast inclusions? In an interview with Variety, director Simon McQuoid hinted at one addition that most fans would be delighted to see in Mortal Kombat 2.
"I get asked about Kitana as much as Johnny Cage," McQuoid teased. "There’s a lot of interesting characters, story and material to work with. So we haven’t really dug into it; we just know we’re very privileged that’s sitting there."
While those two characters would be alive if they're officially added to the cast, there's another Mortal Kombat individual who could be resurrected after they were apparently killed in the first movie, too. The video game series is notorious for bringing dead characters back to life and, when asked if the movie series could follow a similar trajectory, McQuoid hinted that it may do.
"The experience of death informs who they become," McQuoid said. So I guess I don’t want death to be something that is inconsequential. So I think there are opportunities there, and certainly Sub-Zero has some opportunities."
How could Sub-Zero and Kitana appear in Mortal Kombat 2?
Strangely enough, we included Kitana and Sub-Zero's resurrected alter-ego - Noob Saibot - in a piece on who we'd like to see appear in Mortal Kombat 2. Hearing McQuoid name drop one of them, and hint at the other, is intriguing to us, and gives us hope that we'd guessed at least two Mortal Kombat 2 cast additions correctly.
How could they appear in a potential sequel though? For Sub-Zero, there's an easy answer. In the final few scenes of Mortal Kombat, we see Shang Tsung use his powers to shroud Sub-Zero's dead body in black smoke before it's transported back to the evil realm of Outworld.
In the video game series, Sub-Zero is brought back to life by a necromancer called Quan Chi, who strips Sub-Zero of everything that made him human. This, inevitably, makes Sub-Zero the living embodiment of evil, and he's christened with his new title as a result. Yes, Noob Saibot is a silly name, but it's actually a reference to Mortal Kombat's two creators - Ed Boon and John Tobias - so we can't really criticize it.
As for how Noob Saibot could be used in a sequel? Well, he'll want revenge on Scorpion, for one, and we imagine he'll want to track down Cole Young to end Scorpion's bloodline for good. Given that Mortal Kombat 2 would see the next official tournament also take place, we imagine that Shang Tsung would use Noob Saibot as a wildcard to try and win the tournament through nefarious means.
For Kitana, her introduction would be similarly simple. A 10,000-year-old ninja, Kitana hails from the realm of Edenia in the video game series. We've already seen that there are three realms in the movie universe - Outworld, Earth and Hell - so adding another to the equation wouldn't be a stretch for non-Mortal Kombat fans to accept.
Couple that with the fact Kitana historically defects to the Earthrealmers' side in the games, and her subtle love interest in Liu Kang, and Kitana's arc in Mortal Kombat 2 basically writes itself. She could start out as a bad person but be won around by Liu Kang and Cole, realize she's fighting for the wrong side and join them in the sequel's third act.
Kitana's ties to Mortal Kombat's big bad - Shao Khan - would also be a primer for his potential introduction in a third movie, too. Including Kitana in Mortal Kombat 2, then, would be handy if McQuoid plans to bring Shao Khan to the live-action universe.
Finally, Kitana was originally introduced in the Mortal Kombat II video game back in 1993. Making her live-action debut in a Mortal Kombat 2 movie, then, would also be a cool little nod to her past.
