It's no secret that Mortal Kombat, the 1995 Paul W.S. Anderson film adaptation of the popular, controversial fighting video game, is the greatest film ever made, for many, many reasons we simply do not have the time to get into right now. Since then, we've seen other filmed adaptations of the property succeed (Mortal Kombat: Legacy) and fail (literally every other filmed adaptation of Mortal Kombat). Now, before we get the long-promised new live-action feature film, we'll get another one to satiate our appetite in 2020. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, an original animated film, will be dropping soon -- with quite the eclectic voice cast.
Community star Joel McHale will voice Johnny Cage, the sunglasses-wearing, cocky movie star who does the splits and punches you in the nuts. Dexter star Jennifer Carpenter will voice Sonya Blade, the special agent who hurls purple balls of energy at you. Rounding out the cast includes veteran voice actors like Steve Blum as Sub-Zero, Kevin Michael Richardson as Goro, Grey Griffin as Kitana, and Fred Tatasciore as the wildly named Demon Torturer. Playing the title role, one of Mortal Kombat's most well-known characters, a yellow-clad ninja who hurls spears from his hands and shouts "Get over here"? Patrick Seitz, who's been playing the character in several of the recent video games.
Plot details haven't been revealed, though we can all certainly start speculating about the subtitle Scorpion's Revenge vis-a-vis the equal parts deepening and nonsensical story modes in the recent games. I have a lot of faith in the creative team, however. Director Ethan Spaulding, a Warner Bros. animation vet, has made mature works like Batman: Assault on Arkham and directed several episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. And writer Jeremy Adams has worked on several delightfully genre-skewering projects like DC Super Hero Girls and Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans. While, by definition, no creative project can and will ever reach the heights of the 1995 Anderson adaptation, I look forward to seeing this animated take on one of my absolute favorite properties.
For more on MK, what happens when a clown prince of crime joins the party? Plus -- what's the deal with the upcoming live action film? And what video games are we looking forward to in 2020?
