Mortal Kombat Producer on Characters That Didn’t Make the Cut

While the cast of the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie is absolutely stacked with talent and iconic characters, there are plenty more fighters in the franchise than could possibly have been included in a single film. Given the long development of the reboot, it should come as no surprise that there was once a time where other characters were in it, and while producer Todd Garner didn’t list them all when asked about them during a set visit attended by ComicBook.com, he did mention one very specifically: Rain.

“So we pulled characters out early, just because it felt like Rain was in the movie for a second,” Garner said. “But Reptile’s sort of like Rain and so it’s like… And that was just a weird fight […] So we had to pull that character out, which is like, that wouldn’t have been a [main] character anyway. So things like that are like, ‘Are we just doubling down on the same thing, or repeating ourselves just for the sake of it?’”

If you’re bummed about not getting Rain right off the bat, however, there is a silver lining here. While there is every chance he was joking a bit, Garner did later say that now they can have Rain show up in the sequel, instead. That is, if they get the chance to make one.

In case you missed it previously, here is the official synopsis for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie:

“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 late last year. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the film right here.

Any particular character you hope to see in the new Mortal Kombat movie? Would you have liked to have seen Rain in the first film? 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!