Mortal Kombat Producer on Joe Taslim Being Cast First

Sub-Zero has played a critical role in the Mortal Kombat franchise since the original arcade game, and that will also be true of the live-action reboot where the character is portrayed by actor Joe Taslim. In a Mortal Kombat set visit, producer Todd Garner discussed Taslim’s casting, and how quickly the actor agreed to take on the role once it was offered. Taslim was the very first actor cast among the film’s many Kombatants, but Garner said it was a necessary step towards figuring out the rest of the actors and which characters they would be most suited to portray.

“So [Taslim] was the first one in. It was like, we said, ‘Do you want to play Sub-Zero?’ ‘Yes!’ It was that fast. And he said, he’ll tell you, he waited and thought, ‘Are they really making this movie? Because I’m the only actor in it.’ Well, because we had to. It’s a very large chessboard of like Ludi Lin and we had Max Huang, all these guys and you’re like, ‘Oh man, how do we move them all around to make sure that they’re all… not only have the opportunity to be their best, but have a character that’s worthy of them being it,’” said Garner.

Sub-Zero seems to be one of Mortal Kombat‘s main antagonists, and the one that kicks off the film’s events. In the movie’s red band trailer, we can see the character battling Jax in what proves to be a fateful encounter. The end of the trailer also sees the character in kombat with Hiroyuki Sanada’s Scorpion. Those two characters have been hated rivals since the original Mortal Kombat, and Sub-Zero was killed following that game’s events.

It remains to be seen whether or not Sub-Zero will face the same fate in the movie, but it’s worth noting that the character could still return in a potential sequel. Sub-Zero is resurrected in the second Mortal Kombat game as Noob Saibot, and Joe Taslim seems well aware of that history. Perhaps the first actor cast in Mortal Kombat will end up being the first cast in a sequel!

The Mortal Kombat film 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.

Are you looking forward to the Mortal Kombat reboot? Are you excited to see Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!