Mortal Kombat II is now in theaters, continuing the story of Earthrealm’s battle against Outworld, this time with the Emperor Shao Kahn leading the charge. Raiden and his former champions (Sonya, Liu Kang, Jax, and Cole Young) are getting help from some new fighters, including Jonny Cage (Karl Urban) and Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph). However, it’s no spoiler to say that by the end of the film, the fight against Outworld isn’t done, and that the Earthrealm still needs some fresh defenders to step up.
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With box office projections already looking solid, it seems like Mortal Kombat 3 will be on the horizon. But when could we see the film hit theaters, and what would the next installment even be about? More importantly, what other iconic characters do we need ot see in this franchise?
Mortal Kombat 3 is Coming – Who’s Involved?
Last fall, the makers of the Mortal Kombat movie franchise, New Line – Warner Bros., already tapped Mortal Kombat II writer Jeremy Slater to also pen the script for Mortal Kombat 3. According to Slater (at New York Comic-Con 2025), the studio was so pleased with MKII that they felt confident greenlighting the third film early. “Our friends at New Line and Warner Bros. are so happy and excited with this movie,” Slater said. “They are so convinced that there is a giant fanbase waiting for it that they already hired me to start writing the next installment of ‘Mortal Kombat.’”
If Slater is returning as the writer of MK3, it’s safe to assume that Mortal Kombat (2021) and Mortal Kombat II director Simon McQuoid will also return for the third installment. The McQuoid launched his directorial career on these Mortal Kombat films, so completing the trilogy seems like it will be his obligation. The only creative detour could be the studio looking at a second round of mixed reviews for these Mortal Kombat movies and deciding a more experienced director should helm the third one.
As for the cast, it’s safe to assume that the (surviving) characters would all return for Mortal Kombat 3, and so will the actors playing them. That list would include Karl Urban (Johnny Cage), Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Tadanobu Asano (Lord Raiden), Tati Gabrielle (Jade), and even CJ Bloomfield (Baraka). However, that returning cast could get bigger, based on where Mortal Kombat II left things.
How Mortal Kombat 2 Sets Up Another Sequel
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW! Mortal Kombat II took on the more traditional format of an actual tournament. Earthrealm won on the technicality of Kitana switching sides from Outworld to Earthrealm, and killing Shao Kahn to avenge her family and the kingdom of Edenia. However, before Kitana’s defection, Earthrealm lost some key rounds of the tournament, and some fighters, as well. Cole Young (Lewis Tan) was slaughtered by Shao Kahn, while Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) pulled an Obi-Wan, and seemingly joined with a greater spiritual force during his duel with Khan. Jax (Mehcad Brooks) is also killed by Shao Kahn while trying to steal the mystical amulet that makes him immortal. During the tournament, Liu Kang is also forced to kill the undead version of his brother-in-arms, Kung Lao (Max Huang), making Earthrealm’s losses a total of four highly-skilled fighters.
Raiden refuses to accept those losses: he and his champions leave Outworld with Shao Kahn’s necromancer, Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) as their prisoner. They state that their next mission will be to resurrect their fallen comrades, just like Quan Chi brought back Kano (Josh Lawson) and other dead fighters that Shao Kahn recruited. With Liu Kang in the Netherrealm on a rescue mission, and the other fighters of Earthrealm working towards resurrection, the story for Mortal Kombat 3 seems pretty clear.
Writer Jeremy Slater posted a picture of the finished script for Mortal Kombat 3, which featured the original logo for the Mortal Kombat 3 video game. Fans have already taken that as a subtle nod from Slater that the third film will adapt the lore of the third game. That story saw Shao Khan use resurrection as a loophole to breach the barriers between Earthrealm and Outworld and merge them as one world, stripping billions of souls away in the process. The merging strips Raiden of his power, and his surviving fighters must defeat Shao Kahn’s assassins and then the Emperor himself to restore Earth and all the lost souls hanging in the balance.
Obviously, with Shao Kahn now very much dead in the Mortal Kombat movies, the story would have to change. Shang Tsung (Chin Han) and the forces of Outworld would presumably want to resurrect Shao Khan (Martyn Ford), which could set up a three-way battle between Earthrealm, Outworld, and Netherrealm. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the third film get deeper into the lore of Netherrealm, with a big bad like Shinnok making his onscreen debut, and iconic characters like Smoke getting their chance to appear in the franchise.
When Mortal Kombat 3 Could Be Released
The five-year turnaround time between Mortal Kombat (2021) and Mortal Kombat II had a lot to do with the one-two punch of the COVID-19 pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023, the latter of which halted production on MKII a month after cameras started rolling.
The important timeline to note is that New Line greenlit Mortal Kombat II in 2022, and had a cast assembled and ready to shoot a year later, likely with the original intention of releasing the film in the latter part of 2024 or the summer of 2025. Keeping to that kind of timeline, and considering that production on Mortal Kombat 3 started in late 2025, the threequel could get fast-tracked by New Line (if the MKII box office warrants it) and cameras could start rolling by spring or summer 2027, which would put Mortal Kombat 3 on track for a summer 2028 release.
Any hesitation from the studio or external interruptions to production would knock MKIII‘s release date back to around late 2028, if not 2029. Personally, we’re hoping that threequel comes sooner, rather than later.
In the meantime, Mortal Kombat II is in theaters. Discuss your wishlist for Mortal Kombat 3 with us on the ComicBook Forum!
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