[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGnVhqhmip8[/youtube]
In 2010, the above short mysteriously appeared online. "Mortal Kombat" fans collectively felt their hairs stand on end as they watched what appeared to be a trailer for a new MK movie. With only the the weak, 1995 live-action "Mortal Kombat" and the unintentionally hilarious sequel "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation", fans were psyched to finally see a dark, gritty adaptation of the beloved game franchise. As it turned out, the short was not a trailer for an existing project, but rather a pitch put together by director Kevin Tancharoen (brother of Maurissa Tanchoroen and sister-in-law of Joss Whedon, whose "Agents of SHIELD" premiered this week).
Thanks to this short, Tancharoen got his wish. A year later, he was handed the opportunity to make a "Mortal Kombat" web-series, which he titled "Mortal Kombat: Legacy". Season 1 lasted nine episodes, each one explaining the origins of some of the series' most famous characters. And while the season had some cool moments, overall it didn't deliver on the promise of that original short pitch.
But delivery of that promise may finally be delivered this Thursday, when season 2 of "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" premieres on Machinima's YouTube channel. If you haven't seen it, check out the trailer for season 2 below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l3jrR5XMSU[/youtube]
Now that's more like it! It should be noted that when I saw Kenshi, I nearly hit the roof I was so excited.
Here are four other brief points that struck me after watching the season 2 trailer:
The history between Scorpion (real name Hanzo Hasachi) and Sub-Zero (real name Bi Han) has never really gone any deeper than "they are members of rival clans". That's really all we ever needed to know when it came to playing the video game. In "Legacy's" canon, it's revealed that the necromancer Quan Chi tricked Scorpion into believing Bi Han slaughtered his entire clan. That would be his motivation to enter the tournament and kill Sub-Zero. What's interesting now is that in this trailer, we see two little kids playfully fighting in a field. When their parents show up, one in yellow and the other in blue, it's revealed that the kids are a young Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Will season 2 go deeper into the past of these characters and attempt to further explain the rift between the clans?
According to the Wikipedia page, Sub-Zero in S2 will be Kuai Liang, Bi Han's younger brother who takes his place after his death. How will Tancharoen kill off Bi Han? Will he show it, or will it already be done when the season starts?
This one I'm really excited about. Liu Kang is one of the four original Earthrealm defenders of "Mortal Kombat". Recruited by Raiden, God of Thunder, Kang always takes the lead as the hero of MK games and movies. Frankly, I've never cared for Liu Kang. He's just a boring character. As a monk he's very righteous and good, so there's no ambiguity to him. Even in a video game, you like your heroes to be a little flawed.
Well, Tancharoen must see Liu Kang the same way as I do, as this trailer reveals the perennial good-guy listed amongst the tournament entrants ON THE SIDE OF SHANG TSUNG. For those that don't know, Shang Tsung is the evil sorcerer that hosts the tournament and gladly assists in the pursuit in destroying Earthrealm (us). This is a major character retcon, and I am truly fascinated in seeing how this plays out.
Season 1 was spent entirely on origin stories, so this is a bit confusing. In that season, two episodes were spent on Sonya, Jax, and Kano, and one on Cyrax and Sektor. That's three episodes out of nine, or one-third. Those five characters, as advertised right now, do not appear in a single episode of season 2. On the other end, characters such as Ermac, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Kenshi all appear to be main characters, and were not even referenced in season 1. Kurtis Stryker, who was played by Tahmoh Penikett, was hardly more than an ancillary character in season 1. What was the point of making season 1 all about origins, when 10 of the characters won't be common to both seasons? This renders one-third of season 1 unnecessary.
It's also interesting to note that of the eight returning characters, only two will be played by the same actor as the first time around. Other than Kitana and Scorpion, you won't recognize anybody from season one. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I wouldn't call the acting in season 1 particularly strong. However, one acting addition does have me pretty excited, and that's Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung. Tagawa played Shang Tsung once before in the 1995 movie, and he actually fits the role really well. I'm excited to see how he alters his take on the character in this incarnation.
One thing season 1 seriously lacked was actual kombat (proper spelling be damned). Sure, it's neat to see how Cyrax and Sektor went from human Lin Kuei ninjas to cyborg versions of themselves, but when it comes to "Mortal Kombat" we want characters we know killing the crap out of each other! The trailer for season 2 shows lots of ass kicking, and it's not just against random people. We finally get to see the kombatants fighting against each other, and hopefully we'll get to see some gross fatalities in the process.
