None of theMortal Kombatmovies are anywhere close to perfect. Part of the issue is the source material, which has perhaps the most absurd ratio between perceived depth and actual depth in the entirety of gaming. It may look like a silly mishmash of pop-cultural mythology jammed into a classic fighting tournament structure, but it’s actually a sprawling epic about countless compelling characters. Cole Young is not one of those interesting characters, but he does have one thing in common with his stablemates. He’s also dangerously close to hearing that classic announcer shout out, “Finish him!”
Making movies out of fighting games can be tough for a lot of reasons, but the genre’s tendency to play with their main characters is a big issue. Since most one-on-one fighters work with ensemble casts, it can be tough to pick a focal point from which to view the world.Mortal Kombat’s maincharacters include Liu Kang, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and more, depending on the game in question. The first game picked a handful of tournament competitors and stuck with them for the sequel. Unfortunately, the 2021 movie chose to do that while also inventing a newcomer to act as the audience surrogate.
Greg Russo and Dave Callaham
Oren Uziel and Greg Russo
Starring
Lewis Tan, Hiroyuki Sanada, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin
Streaming On
Hulu and Live TV subscriptions
The protagonist ofthe 2021Mortal Kombatmoviewas not any of the iconic characters from the franchise’s ever-expanding roster. A truly impressive number of those characters appear, including a few fascinating deep cuts, but the main role goes to one Cole Young. Cole doesn’t fit perfectly into the franchise, which playfully combines every genre of fiction a 12-year-old boy would likely become obsessed with. He’s a more grounded figure who brings a more modern approach to kombat to the proceedings. Cole is a washed-up MMA fighter with an unfortunate win/loss record and a loving wife and daughter to cheer him on. His story doesn’t really naturally interact with that of the Mortal Kombat tournament. He’s there to be the Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker of the franchise, a newcomer who provides the rest of the cast with excuses to explain everything to the audience. This would be acceptable if he were anywhere near as compelling as any other given member of the cast. Unfortunately, all he’s got going for him is a mediocre superpower and a bloodline connection to theface of the franchise. Nepotism couldn’t carry Cole to the front of fans' imaginations, leaving him in a rough circumstance as the movies gear up for round two.
Mortal Kombat 2Images Don’t Depict Cole
When Warner Bros. dropped the first handful of shots fromMortal Kombat 2, many fans noticed that Cole was not in any of them. Newcomers Kitana, Shao Kahn, andJohnny Cage caught mostof the headlines, but Cage’s image also features heroes Sonya, Jax, and Liu Kang. This led some to suspect that Cole might suffer an early death as the film begins, potentially writing out the unpopular protagonist in favor of fan-favorite Johnny Cage. Death is a prominent aspect of theMortal Kombatseries, and this wouldn’t even be the first time they axed a main character. Liu Kang has spent a considerable percentage of his screentime as a revenant, as have many members of the franchise’s cast. Killing off Cole wouldn’t be thewildest thingMKhas donewith its big-screen adaptations, but they wouldn’t necessarily have to Finish Him to change his appeal.
Could Cole Appear in a New Form?
Mortal Kombatfans have imagined several potential alternate identities for Cole Young. Instead of accepting a new character as the film franchise’s protagonist, they immediately began assuming he was actually an old face with a new name. Many believed that Cole could take on the name Kobra, stepping into the role of the poorly-remembered Black Dragon henchmanfromMK: Deception. Replacing an unpopular character by letting him become an even less popular one seems like an odd choice, but they are both boring MMA guys, so there’s some logic to it. Others have pitched him as an early version of Tremor, reasoning that his metal-like chest armor vaguely resembles the dirt ninja’s gear. Perhaps the most fascinating theory suggests that Cole Young is an anglicization of Kuai Liang, the second ninja to wear the mantle of Sub-Zero. Joe Taslim’s Sub-Zero from the first film is Bi-Han, who usually suffers the wrath of Scorpion and leaves the mantle to his younger brother, Kuai Liang. While Cole is thedescendant of Hanzo Hasashi, the franchise loves to shift its ninja suits around. Kuai Liang became Scorpion in the most recentMortal Kombat 1timeline, potentially leaving the door open for Hasashi’s distant relative to become the new Sub-Zero.
Cole Young was not a particularly scintillating presence inMortal Kombat, giving the second film’s crew a problem to solve. In many ways, killing him off would be a suitable solution, but it feels a bit too easy for thefranchise known for fatalities. Turning Cole into a familiarMortal Kombatcharacter might bring him into the fans' good graces without having to kill him off. Either way, theMortal Kombatmovies must fix their weakest element. How do they expect to defend Earthrealm with a guy like Cole on the roster?
