Mortal Kombat Movie: Where Is Kitana?

The new Mortal Kombat movie is out everywhere this week, and we still don’t know if Kitana will make an appearance. In the reveal trailer for the movie, Kitana’s signature steel fans can be spotted, seemingly being used as decorations, which means she’s around in some capacity, probably being saved for a sequel. Of course, it’s also possible she’s being saved as a surprise, but at this point, this seems unlikely.

Kitana is a major character and one of the series most prominent female characters, if not the most prominent. If she was in the movie, you’d want people to know. And even if you wanted to hold it as a surprise, marketing wouldn’t let you.

There’s also no way Warner Bros. would be able to keep the character secret this long unless her role in the movie was truly an insignificant cameo. However, you’re not going to sideline Kitana to a cameo, unless it’s in a post-credits scene as bait for a sequel.

So, where is Kitana? Well, we don’t know, but it looks like it’s nowhere in the movie, though for now, this is just speculation. However, Kitana’s apparent absence raises an interesting question: Why is Mileena in this movie?

Mortal Kombat’s other most recognizable, popular, and prominent female character is Mileena, a dual sai-wielding assassin, and more importantly the evil twin of Princess Kitana. Over the years, the series has attempted to flesh out the character and evolve her from a sex symbol and stand-in for fan service. In the process, they’ve given her motivations and additional character traits, though none more paramount than her psychological instability that drives her thirst for blood.

That said, while Kitana’s romance with Liu Kang and her struggle with her adopted father Shao Khan has given the princess a ton of narrative weight, the same can’t be said with Mileena. Mileena is an interesting and important character only through her relationship with Kitana, which again begs the question: Why is Mileena in the movie while Kitana (seemingly) isn’t? The two go together, but Mileena isn’t vital to the story of Kitana. Kitana is vital to the story of Mileena and is what ultimately makes the character interesting.

All of this is to say, Mileena’s inclusion in the movie makes Kitana’s absence all the more nonplussing. It’s certainly a bold choice from writers Greg Russo and Oren Uziel, and one that we feel may need an explanation. Yet again, for all we know, she is in the movie, but even if she is, it’s surely in a limited capacity. That said, Kitana is far too important of a character to sideline for long, and rest assured if she’s not in the movie, she will definitely be in the inevitable sequel. If that’s not the plan, Russo and Uziel have some serious explaining to do.