Mortal Kombat IIhas been extremely well-received by fans, but is having a hard time breaking through at the box office. Despite this, a third film seems all but assured, and following the events of the second movie, the second movie is setting up nicely to potentially lean on one of the more recent Mortal Kombat video games for its story.
Mortal Kombat 11 could feature the blueprint for the next movie
For those who haven’t seen Mortal Kombat II yet, this is a fair warning that we’ll be diving into spoiler territory here.
At the end of the second film, Liu Kang is killed by Shao Khan in the film’s final battle. However, before he dies, Kang seems to hint that he’s already understood the sacrifice he must make, and that this isn’t the end of any of the heroes, but just the beginning. On the surface, it seems like his speech is all about the fight happening in the moment, in which his death allows Sonya to free Kitana, leading to the heroes coming out on top.
However, for those who know about Liu Kang’s character, it could mean a bit more. For those unaware, Kang is much more than just a fighter in the world of Mortal Kombat, but is actually an eternal God of Fire, and the former Keeper of Time in the game’s universe. This topic is touched on in the movies once or twice, mainly to highlight how Kang gets his iconic fire powers. It’s much deeper than that, though, and from the looks of the events of Mortal Kombat II, a potential third movie could dive into this perfectly, and one of the Mortal Kombat video games shows us how.
Back in 2019, NetherRealm Studios released Mortal Kombat 11, the eleventh main installment in the MK series, and a sequel to 2015’s Mortal Kombat X. The game’s story is a long one, but for the purposes of the third Mortal Kombat movie, we’ll be focusing on Liu Kang’s role. To sum up his excellent story in the game, Kang is angry at Shao Khan for killing his longtime friend Kung Lao, and demands to fight Khan. Raiden, an Elder God and the God of Thunder, denies him this opportunity, leading to a fight between the two that leaves Kang dead. Following this, Kang’s body is taken and turned into a revenant, who serves under the necromancer Quan Chi.
Much more happens in the game after this, including the introduction of Kronika, the former Keeper of Time and mother of the Elder Gods Shinnok and Cetrion. In the game, she ends up merging various Mortal Kombat timelines, which inadvertently brings back a younger, still alive Liu Kang into the picture, who is subsequently absorbed into the soul of Revenant Liu Kang. The Revenant Liu Kang and Raiden then fight, leading to Raiden using his own powers to fuse all three of their souls into one body, which is taken over by the young Liu Kang, who becomes the Fire God Liu Kang.
While this exact story is unlikely to happen in Mortal Kombat III, the second movie has set it up to be a possibility. The second movie ends with the Earthrealm champions looking to use a captured Quan Chi to revive the fallen heroes, something that could lead to a potential revenant Kang situation. Besides that, we know we are already likely to see Fire God Liu Kang in the film.
Writer Jeremy Slater all but confirmed the news in an interview with Variety, saying that the plan was always to be “bringing Liu Kang back in some regard.” Obviously, it might not be in the same chaotic way as Kang returns as a god in MK11, but it seems like fans will definitely get the chance to see the ultimate form of Kang at some point.
