Mortal Kombat Producer Explains How the Beginning of the Movie Is "Everything"

When the Mortal Kombat live-action reboot begins, fans can expect the first 13 minutes to establish the tone for the entire rest of the film. In a recent press event, Mortal Kombat producer Todd Garner discussed the movie's beginning, and how important it is to the rest of the narrative. The movie will kick things off with the feud between Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The two characters appeared in the 1995 film, but didn't play a major role in its narrative. It seems that the reboot will put their rivalry front-and-center, along with the conflict between the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu.

"Where you begin the movie is everything. So if you're starting with whatever character, that's the movie you're telling. So we're telling that movie. You saw the beginning of our movie and that's the movie we're ultimately telling is what does it mean when you try to exterminate someone's entire race, their entire clan? What is the responsibility of that? What does that mean? And what does it mean to the person who lost everything or almost everything? What does that person do with it? In this case, one of them goes to hell, and sits there and waits and plans his revenge. And the other turns into an ice Ninja that can freeze your blood and stab you with it," said Garner.

In the original game, Scorpion was murdered by Sub-Zero, but returned to life to hunt down his enemy, eventually killing him in the tournament. Inevitably, the Bai-Han version of Sub-Zero returns as the villain Noob Saibot. It remains to be seen just how closely the film will stick to that storyline, but it sounds like the basis will remain intact, setting up the movie's overall plot.

"So clearly we're setting up the heart of the movie in the first 13 minutes. So when you make that decision to start a movie that way with no English words spoken in a very carousel way with revenge and heartbreak and tragedy, that's the movie you're telling. And you can't then just shift gears and have the '90s techno soundtrack, and everybody in spandex running around, bicycle kicking each other. So once you make that choice, you have to stick with it and for better or for worse, ride that wave until it crashes. And that's what this movie does," said Garner.

Garner's focus on establishing the tone early in the script certainly bodes well for the rest of the movie! Mortal Kombat fans won't have to wait much longer to find out for themselves, as the reboot will release in theaters and on HBO Max April 16th. Readers can find out more by checking out the rest of ComicBook.com's coverage of the Mortal Kombat reboot right here.

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