Mortal Kombat: writer says studio demanded inclusion of Cole Young

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

So, I've made it no secret that while I've been excited by a lot of what I've seen from the new Mortal Kombat film (can't wait to see the Fatalities on the big screen!), I've also been highly skeptical of the inclusion of rando protagonist Cole Young as our main character, considering he's not from any of the games!

However, co-writer Greg Russo explains that he was given the "Cole Young" character from a previous draft, and his inclusion was a studio mandate he had no control over. He elaborates further in an interview with Inverse: 

It was something the studio wanted…The new protagonist was an idea loaded in prior to my involvement…I inherited a script in 2016, and that had the new protagonist in it…But it had no tie to the mythology of Mortal Kombat. I thought, if we're going to do it, I want to make sure we do it right and that this character fits into the mythology in an organic way. We have a ton of mythology.

When you write a film, it’s different than writing a game. You write a film for all audiences. Most of the people that go see these movies actually don’t know what Mortal Kombat is.

We have a responsibility to get a ton of mythology and a ton of characters in a short time. It helps us narratively to have a character who doesn’t know [anything] so the pre-existing characters can let the audience in.

I’ve seen movie franchises where they bring in a new character and that character is the poster child of the movie, and I felt that was wrong…Even though we are bringing in a new character, which Mortal Kombat does with every game, all the characters you love are all going to have their moments. They’re going to do their cool shit and no one is going to feel they’re in a corner doing nothing. That was important for me.

Personally, I don't buy this explanation. Especially since a character like Johnny Cage would've been perfect for this role, as he's also – canonically – someone who doesn't know anything about the tournament either, so he would be able to be exposited to the way they're claiming Young will be (which is already kinda narratively lazy anyway). Also, the original 1995 film didn't need some audience surrogate to make sense, and I'd argue it was the better for it! Because, despite what Russo says, there's a real "Alice from Resident Evil" vibes to the character, and it's worrying to say the least. True, certain games – like Deception and Armageddon – had new protagonists that interacted with the main characters…but seriously, who's favorite character is fucking Shujinko or Taven?

Anyway, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how well the Cole Young character is implemented into the franchise once it comes over here to theaters and HBO Max April 23, but in the meantime, here's the film's official synopsis:

A washed-up mixed martial arts fighter named Cole Young is unaware of his hidden lineage or why he is being hunted down by Sub-Zero of the Lin-Kuei clan of assassins. Concerned for the safety of his family, he seeks out a clique of fighters that were chosen to defend Earthrealm in a high-stakes battle against the forces of Outworld in a inter-dimensional fighting tournament that occurs once in a generation. Appearances to be made by Shang Tsung, Goro, Jax Briggs, Sonya Blade, Kano, Scorpion and more fan favorites!

Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat is directed by Simon McQuoid and stars Lewis Tan, Joe Taslim, Josh Lawson, Jessica McNamee, and Hiroyuki Sanada!

So what do you guys think? Are you looking forward to seeing Cole Young in action? Either way, sound off below!