‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Writer Jeremy Slater Says the Sequel Will ‘Top the Original in Every Way’
The creative team behind Mortal Kombat 2 is trying their best to raise the bar and deliver a sequel that’s even better than the original. That’s according to writer Jeremy Slater, who signed on to pen the script back in January. In a recent interview, Slater offered a brief update on the video game movie’s progress, revealing that the team has taken fan feedback from the first film into consideration. Here’s what he had to say.
‘Mortal Kombat 2’ was announced in January 2022
Per Deadline, New Line Cinema greenlight a Mortal Kombat sequel at the beginning of this year. The studio had few details to share at the time, but it confirmed Slater’s involvement in the film.
Mortal Kombat is based on the popular fighting game franchise, which has been around since the early ’90s. The 2021 film is a reboot of the Mortal Kombat film series from 1995. Mortal Kombat (2021) debuted at No. 1 at the box office and became one of the most popular titles on HBO Max, where it was released simultaneously.
Mortal Kombat follows an MMA fighter named Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who learns that he’s a descendant of the ninja Hanzo Hasashi. When an assassin known as Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) targets Cole and his family, the fighter must train alongside Earth’s other champions to compete in a tournament against the villains of the Outworld.
Jeremy Slater recently teased an ‘awesome’ sequel to ‘Mortal Kombat’
In an interview with Discussing Film, Slater teased the “awesome” work the Mortal Kombat 2 team has done so far.
“The Mortal Kombat sequel is awesome. I’m having a ton of fun. I can’t really share any details about it, but we want to make something that the fans really love, and I think it’s a really great creative team,” he said.
Although Slater couldn’t discuss the film in-depth, he did promise that Mortal Kombat 2 will keep fans in mind.
“[The team has] been listening to the fan reactions and they know what fans loved about the first movie and what they didn’t,” Slater continued. “Everyone is creatively setting out to really make a sequel that tops the original in every way. We’re still very early in the process, but the fans should be really excited. It’s going to be awesome.”
What we know about the sequel so far
Despite being named after the tournament, Mortal Kombat actually didn’t showcase the tournament itself — just the battles leading up to it. The film ended with the Outworld’s Shang Tsung (Chin Han) vowing to get revenge on the Earthrealm’s fighters. He returned to the Outworld to build a stronger army, and the Earthrealm began to do the same.
Mortal Kombat already teased a new character, Johnny Cage, another potential recruit for the Earthrealm. However, a cast member for Johnny has not yet been announced. Many of the original film’s stars are expected to return, including Tan, Jessica McNamee (who played Sonya Blade), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Josh Lawson (Kano), and more.
Mortal Kombat 2 does not yet have a release date. Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for more updates.
