Now I had a lot of issues with how the recent R-rated animated straight-to-VOD feature Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge turned out (namely the shoehorning of the tournament in what I felt should've been more of a straightforward origin story that sort of hindered both storylines); however, I ended up enjoying it well enough. It had cool action, gore, and was relatively accurate to the lore (and the changes that were made didn't bother me much).
And luckily it seems like it was enough of a success that THR reports a sequel – Mortal Kombat: Battle of the Realms – is currently in active development!
Here's the official description:
Joel McHale and Jennifer Carpenter…are returning to voice star in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms after voicing Johnny Cage (McHale) and Sonya Blade (Carpenter) in Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.
The new film reunites much of the Scorpion’s Revenge team, including actors Jordan Rodrigues as Liu Kang, Patrick Seitz as Scorpion & Hanzo Hasashi, Artt Butler as Shang Tsung & Cyrax, Robin Atkin Downes as Shinnok & Reiko, Dave B. Mitchell as Raiden, Kintaro & Sektor; Ikè Amadi as Jax Briggs & One Being; Grey Griffin as Kitana, Satoshi Hasashi & Mileena; and Fred Tatasciore as Shao Kahn.
New castmembers include Matthew Mercer as Stryker & Smoke; Bayardo De Murguia as Sub-Zero/Kuai Liang; Matt Yang King as Kung Lao; Paul Nakauchi as Lin Kuei Grandmaster; Emily O’Brien as Jade; and Debra Wilson as D’Vorah.
Scorpion’s Revenge filmmakers behind the project include director Ethan Spaulding, screenwriter Jeremy Adams, producers Rick Morales and Jim Krieg, executive producer Sam Register and creative consultant Ed Boon, who co-created the popular video game with John Tobias.
No official plot details revealed as of yet, but "Battle of the Realms" seems pretty self-explanatory. Though the fact that newer MK kharacters like D'Vorah (who was only first introduced in 2015's MK X) are mixing it up with more klassic kharacters in an earlier part of the timeline is interesting, if not unexpected. I ultimately disliked Mortal Kombat 2021, but bringing in newer characters to an earlier part of the story was not one of my issues (and is something regularly done in comic book adaptations – often to great effect – all the time!)
I'm also extra optimistic, as now the focus seems to be on Mortal Kombat proper, and not also trying to focus on a kharacter like Scorpion who wasn't integral to its outcome – meaning it should be more coherent. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, no official release date as of yet, but it's looking like it will get over here this summer!
So what do you guys think? Fans of the original Scorpion's Revenge? If so, looking forward to the sequel? Either way, sound off below!