Mortal Kombat 2’s Success Depends On One Character (& It’s Not Johnny Cage)

The 2021 adaptation of Mortal Kombat fared better than previous movies based on the video game, but Mortal Kombat 2 still needs to fix its poor handling of certain characters. The Mortal Kombat franchise centers around a select group of powerful warriors, demons, and sorcerers as they all engage in deadly combat to decide the fate of the universe. Even though most of the news regarding Mortal Kombat 2 inspires hope that it will be an improvement over its predecessor, live-action adaptations of beloved video games, anime, novels, etc. always face the inherent challenge of not being able to please every fan of the original source material.

While the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie got a lot of things right, including its depiction of violence and gore, the inclusion of many important characters, and references to specific locations and plot points from its source material, the adaptation still failed in some areas that it definitely shouldn’t have. Although the announcement of Johnny Cage’s actor in Mortal Kombat 2 was met with a mixed reception, the news at least showed that the complaints viewers had about his exclusion from Mortal Kombat were heard. However, with Mortal Kombat 2 still in development, its producers still have time to correct another one of the previous movie’s biggest mistakes.

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Mortal Kombat 2 Needs To Get Scorpion’s Return Right

Mortal Kombat left out many key elements essential to a proper Scorpion portrayal.

One of the most baffling aspects of Mortal Kombat was its handling of Hanzo Hasashi, better known globally as Scorpion. Its opening moments depict Scorpion’s Shirai Ryu clan’s legendary rivalry with Bi Han/Sub-Zero’s Lin Kuei clan, leading to one of the best fight scenes in Mortal Kombat, but it fails at properly depicting Hanzo’s transition into the iconic ninja. While Hanzo’s transformation into Scorpion was a brutally painful process, it developed his character beyond that of just another run-of-the-mill killer on an insatiable quest for revenge. Additionally, Scorpion’s origin story paved the way for new characters and locations to join the franchise, expanding Mortal Kombat‘s lore.

In the Mortal Kombat video games, Hanzo’s soul was sent to the Netherrealm — Mortal Kombat‘s depiction of Hell — where it was tortured along with Bi-Han’s soul before being turned into a puppet of destruction by the sorcerer Quan Chi. After being resurrected as Scorpion, the warrior formerly known as Hanzo Hasashi swore to destroy Quan Chi and restore his soul to his body. The 2021 movie disregards this much-needed context by shifting gears to Cole Young after Hanzo’s death before suddenly bringing Hanzo back as Scorpion in its climax. With Quan Chi cast in Mortal Kombat 2, there’s hope Mortal Kombat 2 will redeem Scorpion.

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How Mortal Kombat (2021) Failed Scorpion

Set leaks for Mortal Kombat 2 strongly suggest the movie will redeem Scorpion.

The Netherrealm is set to appear in Mortal Kombat 2, suggesting the producers of the movie are already ensuring Scorpion’s return is handled much more properly this time around. By removing Scorpion from Mortal Kombat in favor of developing the poorly received Cole, Mortal Kombat‘s depiction of Scorpion felt weak and like an afterthought. With the Netherrealm serving as a key location, Mortal Kombat 2 stands to gain much by spending a considerable amount of time depicting Hanzo’s transformation into Scorpion and his rivalry with Quan Chi, thus correcting the first movie’s mistake.