Mortal Kombat Director Simon McQuoid Talks the Movie's Timeline

While little is known about the content of the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot film beyond the first 13 minutes of it and broadly which characters will appear, it is known that the movie will look at the history of some of the characters while also largely taking place in the present day. Does that mean it could possibly deal with some of the timeline shenanigans of the video game franchise? According to director Simon McQuoid, beyond the opening scene, it doesn't really "mess with time at all."

"There's a lot of different timelines and different iterations of characters and all sorts of stuff that comes out of the source material," McQuoid said during a recent press event for the film. "So, we were conscious of that in the same way we were respectful of everything that comes out of the source material. But we don't really mess with time, per se, but we just try to keep a... Aside from that opening, which is set in ancient Japan, it's present day. So, we don't mess with time at all. And we tried to keep that aspect of it reasonably simple, because there was enough going on as it was, a lot of plate spinning going on with this movie. So, just try to keep that aspect pretty simple."

Here is the official synopsis for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, in case you missed it:

"MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family's safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth's greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?"

The Mortal Kombat reboot film is currently scheduled to release on April 16th on both HBO Max and in theaters. The cast includes Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, and Lewis Tan as new character Cole Young. It wrapped filming in late 2019. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the film right here.

What do you think about what we have seen of the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie so far? Are you excited to see the whole thing in April? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!