Mortal Kombat: Sub-Zero actor Joe Taslim says he’s signed on for 4 sequels

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

THIS STORY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR MORTAL KOMBAT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!

Arguably one of the best aspects of the new Mortal Kombat is Joe Taslim's mostly silent, but deadly, portrayal of Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. Taslim brings his signature fight training to the role while giving the character a sense of foreboding that leaves an undeniable impression. The character seemingly meets his end during the climactic fight with Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) but with someone like Taslim playing an iconic villain of the video game franchise, that end may not be permanent. In fact, Taslim's contract for future movies pretty much guarantees he's going to return. 

Taslim appeared on the Just for Variety podcast and he revealed that, if the studio feels that this film has been significantly successful, he will be back because he signed on for four more Mortal Kombat sequels. Given the fact that the film led the box office last weekend and had the best premiere weekend on HBO Max according to various data, Taslim is likely to get his shot to return for more bloody duels with the rest of the Mortal Kombat cast.

Who could Taslim come back as? Well, the video game franchise resurrected Sub-Zero into Noob Sabiot and, during a chat with "The Hollywood Reporter", Taslim says that is likely where it will go if they get to make another film:

"Yes, that's the next transformation of the character. If the fans want this franchise to continue, then there's a strong chance that the next step for Bi-Han is to play Noob Saibot. Fingers crossed, but I hope it happens because I definitely want to play that character."

While the actor is all for doing sequels to Mortal Kombat, he says that a prequel Sub-Zero film would be his preference so he could explore Bi-Han's tragic past:

"The most interesting path, in my opinion, is to do a prequel. It would be a story about Bi-Han and his training in the Lin Kuei. When he got abducted by the Lin Kuei, his parents were killed. So it would be the process of him and his brother becoming assassins … We would get to see two future Sub-Zeros in one movie, and that would be intriguing."

Taslim, who in various interviews I've watched him in recently seems like one of the nicest people ever, also shared his history with the popular video game, which began when he was 12 years old like most of us:

“I was born in South Sumatra. We were poor so I didn’t have the console because it’s expensive. I went to my friend’s house every day to play the game. But you get there and there are like 10 kids lining up. Who wins keeps playing…so it takes me to get to my part like 40 minutes.”

Signing actors to multiple films before a move is actually successful is pretty common practice in Hollywood because, if the film does take off, the studio wants to be able to hold on to the performers before other projects grab them. If the film flops, they can simply move on to other projects but a multi-picture deal allows them to cover all their bases. Marvel signs actors to multi-picture deals before their characters even make their first appearances on-screen and building the Mortal Kombat franchise will prove to be no different. It appears that Mortal Kombat is proving to be successful enough to warrant those sequels so Taslim should be prepared to be a very busy man.

How do YOU think Joe Taslim will return as Sub-Zero in the Mortal Kombat sequels?