Mortal Kombat II Writer On The Decision To Kill Off [SPOILER]
· BCPosted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II Writer On The Decision To Kill Off [SPOILER]
Mortal Kombat II writer Jeremy Slater has explained why he chose to kill off certain characters. [SPOILERS]
Published Mon, 11 May 2026 14:32:08 -0500
by Kaitlyn Booth
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Mortal Kombat II has bounded into theaters, and while it didn't take the number one spot in the opening weekend, it made a valiant effort and did very well. It seems fans are pretty happy with the film overall, which is good, and even most critics thought it was just fine (so not sure why there was any drama about that, but who knows). This might be one of the times when listening to the fans might have actually worked in a movie's favor.
Usually, fans have no idea what they want, and half the time, what they want is bad and won't work (looking at you Resident Evil fans). Writer Jeremy Slater talked to GamesRadar+ about fan expectations when it comes to the death of characters in a movie like Mortal Kombat II, but to get into that, we're going to throw up a SPOILER WARNING. So if you don't want to know anything about character deaths, consider this your final WARNING for SPOILERS and don't scroll beyond this image.
All right, while fans more or less liked the first Mortal Kombat movie there was one thing that most of the fans seemed to really not enjoy and that was the introduction of a new, original character, Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan. Here's the thing though, for as much as fans might not like this answer, bringing an audience POV character is extremely common when adapting IP so while Cole didn't work as a character, bringing him in is exactly what you would expect from someone attempting to develop Mortal Kombat when they may or may not have had much faith in it. It sounds like, from what Producer Todd Garner has said, that is the case. Now that they know people want this franchise and it makes money, killing off Cole early in the movie, as they did, also makes sense. Slater explained that it made sense from a story and fan perspective to kill him off.
"The idea was very much we need some deaths that are going to shock everybody," Slater explained. "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."
It's got to be a bummer for Tan, who really just played the role he was given. Cole was written badly, and nothing about his execution was the problem. In a movie like Mortal Kombat II, Slater does acknowledge that death doesn't mean much when you have the character of Quan Chi running around, but Slater did explain how the difference between the deaths of Cole and Liu Kang later on in the film is because of the story connection.
"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. So 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."
Essentially, Cole's death was there to show everyone that they mean business in Mortal Kombat II, and Liu Kang was there to show hardcore fans that no character, no matter what they might have accomplished in the game's lore, is safe. Considering that death in this franchise means about as much as death in a comic book, there's a chance they could bring anyone back if a third movie happens.
Mortal Kombat II: Summary, Cast List, Release Date
The wait is almost over! Mortal Kombat II arrives in theaters and IMAX May 8.
From New Line Cinema comes the latest high-stakes installment in the blockbuster video game franchise in all its brutal glory, Mortal Kombat II. This time, the fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Karl Urban stars as Johnny Cage, alongside Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, with Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.
Director Simon McQuoid returns to helm the follow up to his explosive 2021 cinematic adventure, from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The film is produced by Todd Garner, E. Bennett Walsh, James Wan, Toby Emmerich, and Simon McQuoid, and executive produced by Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Jeremy Slater, Ed Boon, and Lawrence Kasanoff.
Joining McQuoid behind the camera are director of photography Stephen F. Windon, production designer Yohei Taneda, editor Stuart Levy, and costume designer Cappi Ireland, with casting by Rich Delia and music by Benjamin Wallfisch.
New Line Cinema Presents an Atomic Monster/Broken Road Production, a Fireside Films Production, Mortal Kombat II. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, only in theaters and IMAX® across North America on May 8, 2026, and internationally beginning 6 May 2026.
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