Mortal Kombat Movie Ending Explained

The highly-anticipated Mortal Kombat reboot has finally arrived. The new film, from director Simon McQuoid, is now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, giving fans of the classic video game franchise a chance to see the gory action come to life. Of course, as with most blockbuster movies released in this day and age, Mortal Kombat leaves its ending pretty open, with plenty of room for people to ask questions about what happened and what will come next.

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Mortal Kombat! Continue reading at your own risk...

While Mortal Kombat is traditionally about a fighting tournament with the existence of Earthrealm at stake, there actually isn't a tournament in the new Mortal Kombat movie. There is talk of one, but the heroes take their chance to conquer Shang Tsung's forces without a formal tournament. So the final battle ultimately comes down to Sub-Zero and Cole Young, who is revealed to be a descendant of Hanzo Hasashi. Cole uses the blade that belonged to his ancestor, which causes Hanzo to resurrect from the Netherrealm.

Having learned to control the fires of hell over the course of 400 years, Hanzo takes on the mantle of Scorpion, fighting the eternal warrior Bi-Han, who killed his family back in the 1600s. Scorpion eventually kills Sub-Zero and leaves Earthrealm in Cole's care. This mirrors the ending of the first Mortal Kombat game, where Scorpion kills Sub-Zero in the tournament. It is later revealed in the games, after Sub-Zero returns, that Bi-Han was killed, but his brother took on the mantle following his death. So it won't be a surprise to see Sub-Zero return in a Mortal Kombat movie sequel.

The death toll on the villains in Mortal Kombat is catastrophic. All of them, which the exception of Shang Tsung, are killed in battle. Shang Tsung promises to raise an army to fight Earthrealm, leading Lord Raiden to tell his fighters that there are other champions out there, and that they need to find them as quickly as possible so they can prepare for another fight.

This is how Mortal Kombat sets itself up for a sequel, teasing even more characters on the way, and clearing the path for villains like Shao Kahn and Noob Saibot. The final scene is a direct reference to Johnny Cage, one of the most popular characters from the games, as a poster from one of Cage's movies is shown on a wall after Cole says he needs to go to Hollywood in order to "find someone."

Ultiamtely, Mortal Kombat is sort of a prequel to the actual Mortal Kombat tournament, which will surely take place in the sequel if it gets greenlit.