Mortal Kombat 2's Most Shocking Death Was In Direct Response To Fans
by Ryan Scott · /FilmThis article contains major spoilers for "Mortal Kombat II."
2021's "Mortal Kombat" movie made a bold choice by making Lewis Tan's character Cole Young, an MMA fighter who wasn't part of the video games, the lead character. That was met with a mixed-to-negative response from fans. The filmmakers listened and (spoiler alert!) Cole was brutally killed off in "Mortal Kombat II," with Tan getting very little screen time.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, screenwriter Jeremy Slater, who also wrote Marvel's "Moon Knight" and 2015's "Fantastic Four" movie, explained that killing Cole Young was in direct response to the fan reaction. Here's what he had to say about it:
"The idea was very much we need some deaths that are going to shock everybody. I love Lewis Tan. I think Lewis is the best, but Cole was a character that the hardcore fans did not respond to in the first movie, and they were very vocal about that, and very vocal about calling for his head. So Cole was a great example of a character where killing him would shock the casual fans, the people who are not terminally online and just went to see the movie and enjoyed it. It's going to be a really shocking moment for them, but the hardcore fans are expecting him to die."
Cole Young went from main character to footnote, which doesn't happen too often in franchise filmmaking. The "Mortal Kombat II" trailers made it seem like Karl Urban's Johnny Cage was the main character. He was a main character, but Adeline Rudolph's Kitana was largely given the spotlight. Cole, meanwhile, got his head smashed in by Shao Kahn's hammer and pushed into a pool of acid, leaving no ambiguity whatsoever. Cole is as dead as anyone who has ever died.
Cole Young wasn't the only shocking death in Mortal Kombat II
The first "Mortal Kombat" was billed as an "underwhelming video game adaptation" by /Film in 2021, with many critics and fans agreeing. The response to the sequel has been far more kind. Jeremy Slater, director Simon McQuoid, and Warner Bros. were able to pivot in a more crowd-pleasing direction. That came at the expense of Cole Young.
In the same interview, Slater contrasted Cole's death with others in the movie. Namely Ludi Lin's Liu Kang, who was a genuine surprise given that he's one of the main characters in the games. As the writer explained...
"You contrast [Cole's death] with someone like Liu Kang, and there's a character that is not going to be that shocking for the casual fans, but for the hardcore fans who know that canonically, Liu Kang is the guy who wins the tournament, Liu Kang is the guy who kills Shao Kahn – that is a shocking moment that tells you, 'Oh, the gloves are off now. Nobody is safe.' We have now diverged from canon in a way that leaves the ultimate fate of the tournament up in the air."
"It was really about figuring out who are those deaths that are going to have the most impact, that are going to really drive the story forward, and who is going to surprise the most amount of people, and then just trying to find a satisfying balance," Slater concluded.
"Mortal Kombat II" sets up a third movie in the franchise that might bring some of these dead characters back to life. Johnny Cage and the gang are headed to the Netherrealm. Will they bother saving Cole? Or is he dead for good? Time will tell.
"Mortal Kombat II" is in theaters now.