00:02Finally, the Asashi bloodline will end.
00:12Mortal Kombat 3 is officially on the way, and here's everything we know so far about
00:16the next chapter in the franchise, including a major resurrection that could shake things
00:21up.
00:21What many fans may not realize is that Warner Bros. actually greenlit Mortal Kombat 3 back
00:27in October 2025, the studio was apparently so confident in Mortal Kombat 2 and the long-term
00:33potential of the franchise that it approved a third movie about seven months before Mortal
00:38Kombat 2 even hit theaters.
00:41Looking back, that confidence seems to have paid off.
00:44Mortal Kombat 2 went on to outperform the first movie at the box office, earning $129 million
00:50worldwide compared to the original film's lifetime total of $84 million.
00:55With that success, the franchise is now moving full steam ahead, and writer Jeremy Slater
01:01has already started teasing some major story developments for the next installment.
01:06In a recent interview with Variety, writer Jeremy Slater opened up about the future of
01:11fan-favorite character Liu Kang, confirming that his story is far from over despite his
01:16apparent death in Mortal Kombat 2.
01:18He said, We always had planned to kill him in this movie, but Ludi Lin is so goddamn good.
01:23We didn't expect how much even the casual audience would fall in love with Liu Kang.
01:28We always knew that we would be bringing Liu Kang back in some regard in the third movie,
01:32but we did wind up altering his death a little bit to make it more of a choice, so we're
01:37not
01:37sure if he actually died or did he ascend to some other plane.
01:40What actually happened to hit to him in that moment is absolutely a mystery that's going
01:45to be explored in Mortal Kombat 3.
01:48The mention of an other plane seems to hint that fans could finally see Liu Kang return
01:53in his full Fire God form if the movies continue to follow the lore from the games.
01:59Variety specifically asked about that possibility, which only adds more fuel to the speculation.
02:04Slater also addressed another major death in Mortal Kombat 2, Louis Tan's Cole Young.
02:10The original character, who served as the audience's point of view protagonist in the first film,
02:15was killed off early in the sequel.
02:18According to Slater, Cole was initially created because the studio wanted a newcomer character
02:23to help introduce audiences to the world of Mortal Kombat, but over time, he felt the character
02:28didn't naturally fit within the larger universe.
02:31That said, Slater made it clear that he's a big fan of Louis Tan himself, both as an actor
02:37and a martial artist, and hinted that he could find a way to bring Tan back into the franchise
02:42in a different role, possibly as early as Mortal Kombat 3.
02:46Slater also discussed one of the franchise's biggest recurring themes, alternate realities
02:51and timeline resets.
02:53While those concepts are a huge part of the games, he suggested the films won't rush into
02:58that territory.
02:59I think we would certainly want to steer clear of doing any sort of major timeline reboots or
03:04resets, especially because what we're learning right now is people like these characters
03:09and tone.
03:10Doing a board wipe and starting from scratch with new versions may be a bridge too far.
03:15Some of that stuff feels like fertile ground to explore, but maybe not right off the bat.
03:20Ultimately, Slater says his long-term vision is to turn Mortal Kombat into New Line Cinema's
03:26version of The Fast and the Furious, a franchise with a main series of films alongside multiple
03:31spin-offs focused on supporting characters.
03:34Warner Bros. has previously grouped Mortal Kombat alongside some of its biggest entertainment
03:40properties including DC, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones.
03:44So it'll be interesting to see just how heavily the studio decides to invest in the franchise's
03:50future from here.
03:51The second film begins with a flashback showing Emperor Shao Kahn killing King Jared and conquering
03:57Edenia, taking Queen Sindel and Princess Katana as his own.
04:02Twenty years later, as the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament approaches, Quan Chi resurrects Kung
04:07Lao and Kano on Shao Kahn's orders, although Kano proves impossible to control.
04:12In Earthrealm, Raiden and Sonya recruit Johnny Cage to join Liu Kang, Jax, and Cole Young as
04:19Earth's champions.
04:20During the tournament, Katana secretly betrays Shao Kahn and allies herself with Earthrealm, while
04:26Quan Chi and Shang Tsung steal Raiden's power and use Shinnok's amulet to make Shao Kahn
04:32immortal.
04:33The tournament turns deadly.
04:35Liu Kang is forced to kill the corrupted Kung Lao, Cole Young is killed by Shao Kahn,
04:39and later Jax also sacrifices his life.
04:43Realizing they cannot defeat Shao Kahn while he possesses the amulet, Johnny and Kano travel
04:48to the Netherrealm to destroy it, while Katana turns fully against Shao Kahn.
04:52In the final battle, Shao Kahn mortally wounds Liu Kang, who disappears in a burst of fire
04:58after declaring that he will return to save the fallen.
05:02After Johnny and his allies destroy the amulet, Shao Kahn loses his immortality and is ultimately
05:08killed by Kitana, who frees Edenia and becomes its queen.
05:12The film ends with the heroes capturing Quan Chi and planning to use him to resurrect the
05:17champions who died, setting up the story for Mortal Kombat 3.
05:21After Mortal Kombat 2, there's a lot to be excited about when it comes to the future
05:25of this franchise.
05:27If the filmmakers continue paying attention to fan feedback, there's a good chance that
05:31Mortal Kombat 3 could end up being an improvement over this movie.
05:35At this point, it's probably best to accept that these films are not trying to directly adapt
05:40the games scene for scene.
05:42Instead, they're taking characters, storylines, and concepts from the games and building their
05:48own version of the Mortal Kombat universe.
05:50After watching the second film, that approach feels much easier to get behind.
05:56Kitana was one of the strongest parts of the movie.
05:58Her character, story arc, and overall portrayal worked really well and didn't feel like they
06:04needed much adjustment.
06:06Sonya Blade, on the other hand, felt underused.
06:09She had a few decent moments, including her fight with Sindel, but overall she didn't get
06:14much to do.
06:15It was also surprising that Sindel's signature hair abilities didn't seem to play a major
06:20role in their fight.
06:22Martin Ford did an excellent job portraying Shao Kahn.
06:25He captured the character's physical presence and personality from the games extremely well
06:31and felt like a believable version of the iconic villain.
06:34There probably wasn't much reason to bring Kano back, but considering how entertaining
06:39he was in the first movie, it's hard to complain.
06:42He remains one of the franchise's most entertaining characters.
06:46Karl Urban was also a great addition as Johnny Cage.
06:49His performance was a lot of fun, and hopefully the character sticks around for at least another
06:54movie.
06:55While it might have been exciting to see Johnny help defeat Shao Kahn, the film made it clear
07:00that he wasn't quite ready for that level of battle yet.
07:04Cole Young was much more interesting this time around because the movie finally allowed him
07:08to showcase his abilities.
07:10He came across as a far more capable fighter than he did in the first film.
07:14In fact, if Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung hadn't cheated, it seemed like Cole might have ended
07:20the conflict much earlier.
07:21That raises an interesting possibility that perhaps Outworld has been cheating its way through
07:27the tournaments for years, similar to the games.
07:30Despite expectations that Cole would die, his death still ended up carrying more emotional
07:36weight than expected.
07:37Raiden and Shang Tsung both need significantly larger roles in Mortal Kombat 3.
07:42Raiden felt somewhat cold and distant in the first movie, but this film at least showed
07:47some growth as he began trusting his champions more.
07:51Shang Tsung, meanwhile, still feels underdeveloped despite being one of the franchise's most important
07:56characters.
07:58Liu Kang got a lot more focus in this movie and honestly, it worked because the other
08:03Earthrealm champions clearly see him as their best fighter.
08:06His fight against Revenant Kung Lao was easily one of the highlights of the entire film and
08:12arguably the best fight sequence overall.
08:14It also felt pretty obvious that Liu Kang would have beaten Shao Kahn if Shao and Shang Tsung hadn't
08:20resorted to cheating.
08:21His apparent death was definitely one of the biggest movie surprises and based on the ending,
08:27it seemed like Mortal Kombat 3 is going to focus heavily on bringing back the fallen champions.
08:32We got to see several of Liu Kang's classic abilities, including his fire-based attacks,
08:38but unless I missed it, we never got the iconic bicycle kick.
08:42Hopefully, that's something they're saving for the next movie.
08:45So, what do you think?
08:47Let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe because we'll be covering
08:51more updates on this soon.
08:52We'll see you next time!
