NetherRealm Studios are back in the world of DC Comics, hard at work developing superhero sequel: Injustice 2. If you're thinking the 2017 fighting game may be the first step towards another crossover with Mortal Kombat -- think again!

Ed Boon shot down the chances of a future sequel to Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe, describing it via Twitter as "Not likely". The remark was a reply to a fan, who included an image featuring series icons Batman and Scorpion.

"@BlkBeltAngel Just out of curiosity but any possibility we will see this in the future @noobde pic.twitter.com/a3JjwQSRF3
EB: Not likely.

— Ed Boon (@noobde) November 26, 2016

Boon notably shot down plans for a sequel back in 2012 [full story], telling an interviewer: "... we loved how our last Mortal Kombat game was strictly Mortal Kombat." He further elaborated, "With Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, there's two pretty different audiences; one which wants to see violence and blood, and there's another that wants to see grand superhero moments."

Although the MK/DC crossover has pretty much been persona non grata since the collapse of Midway Entertainment, it holds an important place in the Mortal Kombat gaming canon.

Released this time in 2008; [MKvsDC] was the first time MK game development had the heavy involvement of present owners: Warner Brothers. It also pioneered the basic format of Mortal Kombat X and Injustice: Gods Among Us, restoring the fight to a restricted 2D plane after years of 3D motion. It was also the first time NetherRealm introduced a chapter based Story Mode featuring prominent voice acting talent and cinematic interstitials.

Despite it's role in evolving Kombat; the 2008 crossover struggled to impress with its limited character line-up, and minimal content. Plans for the game's first foray into DLC were aborted as the game struggled under the conditions of Midway's impending collapse. It was also ultimately doomed to be unfavorably compared to pioneering rival series Marvel vs Capcom -- rumored to be heading to a fourth instalment in 2017.

Of course, while there may be no plan for another dedicated video game sequel -- the Mortal Kombat and DC Universe properties have and will continue to crossover.

Scorpion featured prominently in Injustice: Gods Among Us post-release support, appearing as the highest selling downloadable character. A follow-up was alluded to by Boon, who has since asked followers to pick their favourite Kombat Guest from four options. MK Online recently ranked our Top 10 Kombat Guests.

[Related Article: Editorial: The MKvsDC Crossover Nobody Sees Coming]

Is the unlikelihood of MKvDC2 a boon or a crisis? Register to share your thoughts about a crossover on the DC Universe Injustice forum! Get ahead of the game by discussing the next step for Kombat on the Future MK Games forum! Like and follow us via @MK_Online and Facebook.

It may not seem like a controversial question, but in his latest Twitter poll, Ed Boon has waded into an argument that's divided fans and scholars alike for a decade, or more.

The question: 'Do you want to see Watchmen characters in Injustice 2?' The answer: A somewhat unsurprising 74% in overwhelming favour from the 20,056 fans who voted.

You wanna see Watchmen characters in Injustice 2 ?

— Ed Boon (@noobde) November 22, 2016

If the concept is so popular with Ed Boon's followers, where's the controversy? For that answer, we need to unpack the last thirty years of popular comic book culture.

Watchmen was a twelve issue maxi-series written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons. Published over a stretch of months from 1986 to '87, the series was quickly embraced as a defining example of the mid-eighties wave of deconstruction in the superhero genre.

The myth of the Watchmen series grew rapidly to make it one of the best selling "graphic novels" of all time! Widely respected for its concepts and disciplined use of visual storytelling, the collected edition has been studied in literary syllabus, and held up by the comics profession as an example of its best. This broad acceptance was best encapsulated when Time Magazine included Watchmen in a list of The 100 Best Novels of All-Time.

Overwhelming popularity inevitably drew the attention of Hollywood, but the inability of directors as accomplished as Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass to adapt the work to live-action film kept the comic from reaching theatres. A phenomenon that only fed the myth of the perfect comic book. A reverence that grew steadily over two decades, until Zack Snyder introduced the story to an even broader audience with his 2009 feature film adaptation.

The Snyder directed movie challenged the notion that Watchmen was an "unfilmable" comic, and in doing so, opened the floodgates to an untapped world of related Watchmen merchandise.

The movie spawned a promotional two-part downloadable video game developed by Deadline Games. Watchmen: The End is Nigh functioned as a beat 'em up prequel putting control of heroes Rorschach and Nite Owl in the hands of players. As the game advances, the monotonous violence creeps closer to the over-the-top indulgence unique to Snyder's film.

Adaptations such as these drew inevitable criticism from purists, not the least of which was Alan Moore, himself. In a 2008 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he expressed his broad disinterest in film adaptations, "the vast majority of them are pointless." Honing in on the ideas and visual structure of the narrative, he noted, "There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can’t. "

Indeed, while Snyder works to slavishly recreate Dave Gibbson's visuals from the comic, one of its greatest criticisms can be the lack of nuance, depth, and its failure to fully realize the ideas of the comic. A comic which, despite its reputation, may not be unmatched as a quality work, but can be argued to be at its best when reveling in the enduring concepts and form of the medium. A celebration of a then-forty year old phenomenon.

Ironic, then, that the medium of comics became a perceivable traitor to Moore's convictions in 2012, with the release of several prequel series under the banner Before Watchmen.

Though Moore's own work explores and alludes to the serial nature of superheroes, he sees the work as an alternative to the infinity that inspired it: "Watchmen was said to actually provide an alternative to the superhero story as an endless soap opera. To turn that into just another superhero comic that goes on forever demonstrates exactly why I feel the way I do about the comics industry. It’s mostly about franchises. Comic shops these days barely sell comics. It’s mostly spin-offs and toys."

In the same interview with Fast Company, Moore expressed his disappointment with Before Watchmen: "It’s gone beyond anger. It’s almost tragically comical. It’s commerce over art. I’m proud of the work I did on Watchmen, but it’s surrounded by such a toxic cloud of memories. I wish I didn’t have to go through them. I don’t even have a copy of the book in the house." Of the state of pop culture in 2012, he elaborated, "It seems that every movie is a remake of something that was better when it was first released in a foreign language, as a 1960s TV show, or even as a comic book."

Earlier this year, DC Comics revealed the first hints that the Watchmen universe will be further exploited, playing a part in DCU event: Rebirth. The banner serves as a soft reboot of the previous line-wide restart, New 52. It is unclear if these events will have direct inspiration on Injustice 2.

[Related Article: SDCC: Wonder Woman & Blue Beetle Join Injustice 2]

It seems safe to assume Moore would be bemused by the addition of violent, mentally unstable Rorschach, or sarcastic rapist The Comedian to the fighting game frivolities of Injustice 2. Should this prevent their inclusion in the 2017 fighting game sequel? 15,042 or so fans say: no.

Of course, all of the Watchmen characters exist as facsimiles of DC Comics owned heroes. Rorschach is inspired by The Question, Nite Owl resembles Blue Beetle, Doctor Manhattan borrows from the sci-fi of Captain Atom, and so on. Which means NetherRealm Studios have a wealth of alternate options in the world they're already playing with, should watching the Watchmen prove more complicated than its worth.

What do you think? Put down the pirate comics and tell us your thoughts! Register to share your take on the DC Universe Injustice forum. Like and share stories like this via @MK_Online and Facebook.

Thanks to the efforts of Doc Mack and all the folks at Galloping Ghost Arcade, the very first Kombat-Kon has come and gone! The two-day event was a huge success and will hopefully spawn future gatherings for mortals across Earthrealm, and other domains as well!

The main attraction at Kombat Kon 2016 was the appearance of actors and actresses who appeared in the original Mortal Kombat Trilogy! Over the November 19-20 weekend a kavalcade of Kombat stars made appearances at the Kon!

Present and accounted for were: Phillip Ahn (Shang Tsung), Sal DiVita (Nightwolf, Cyrax), Richard Divizio (Kano, Quan Chi, Baraka), Brian Glynn (Shao Kahn), Kerri Hoskins (Sonya Blade), Tony Marquez (Kung Lao), Lia Montelongo (Sindel, Sareena), John Parrish (Jax), Carlos Pesina (Raiden), Daniel Pesina (Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Sub-Zero), Ho Sung Pak (Liu Kang, Shang Tsung), Steve Ritchie (Shao Kahn), John Turk (Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung), and Katalin Zamiar (MKII Kitana & Mileena).

MKII's unmasked Sub-Zero, Josh Tsui, was also there to discuss his upcoming documentary on the wild times at Midway Games: Insert Coin. Read more about the fan invested passion project in MK Online's Insert Coin Interview.

Of course, Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias was a feature appearance, as well as past and present developers John Vogel, John Podlasek, Steve Brownback, and Rigo Cortes also made appearances. They answered fan questions, and autographed photos of themselves. In addition, lots of fans brought their own Mortal Kombat memorabilia to get signed.

The highlight of the event had to be the panel, which consisted of Daniel Pesina, John Parrish, Lia Montelongo, Phillip Ahn M.D., and Sal DiVita. They shared their experiences working on the Mortal Kombat games, and gave fans a glimpse behind the scenes!

Although we can’t show video of this, Daniel Pesina shared his recordings of the filming of the first Mortal Kombat game. They showed how original plans for the game included the characters walking into the frame and having a brief intro. Johnny Cage’s entrance involved blowing kisses to the audience, and Raiden was wearing a cape, which he took off right before the round started. This seems prophetic, considering the characters have pre-fight intros like this in the modern game. Raiden has come to wear a cape in several of the later games.

There were several exhibition events that took place under the guidance of original Kombatants. Daniel Pesina held a rope dart class [pictured above], in which participants could learn the move that inspired Scorpion’s spear! John Parrish’s Kombat Kourse as well as Lia Montelongo’s Boot Kamp taught kompetitors to work as individuals, and as part of a team, to attain victory.

At the VIP after-party, Anthony Marquez was the life of the party. In a case of life imitating art, Marquez (Kung Lao) considers original Liu Kang Ho Sung Park his best friend [pictured below]! Daniel Pesina is like a brother to him, too. Deep ties bind the warriors of Earthrealm together! Who knew?

There were some brilliant cosplayers representing klassic and fan favorite characters: Liu Kang, Kitana, Johnny Cage, Jax, Raiden, Kung Lao, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Jade - who was played by John "Jax" Parrish's daughter!

One of the most memorable cosplayers appeared as Dan Forden. His version of the classic "Toasty!" popup was pixel perfect when a Klassic Scorpion had enough of Kung Lao!

Tons of Mortal Kombat fans were there in attendence! They included longtime user fraysol, as well as best friends Shang_heihachi and TheYellowHare, who met right here on Mortal Kombat Online in the early days of mk5.org and the Gamers.com forums!

I also caught up again with Patrick McCarron from TRMK - who I last saw at E3 2005! One his moderators, Sarah, also joined him. Ryan from TeamRipSet was also there providing live streaming. Good old Dan from MK Universe, and Steve Burrick from MK Kollectors also attended. Strike a victory pose!

The Mortal Kombat games themselves were well represented at the Kon, as well! Arcade machines spanning the entire legacy were there, including the original Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, a joint Mortal Kombat 3/Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 cabinet, and Mortal Kombat 4!

They also had several PS3 and PS4 consoles set up to play Mortal Kombat (2011) and Mortal Kombat X. Mortal Kombat tournament brackets pitted fans against one another for prizes, including original statues: golden and colored version of Johnny Cage/Daniel Pesina and Shang Tsung/Phillip Ahn! There were also free t-shirts, wallets, temporary tattoos, coffee mugs, and action figures given away!

The Kon also had merchandise for sale at several interesting booths! Adam W. Michaels from Adam’s Art Box had a ton of interesting artwork for sale: mostly Mortal Kombat characters, but also some from The Walking Dead and other popular properties.

Myke and Anthony of Kombatpedia fame were also in attendance. They were waving the flag for the much discussed fan resource, giving out prototypes of the proposed book, as well as t-shirts and a few posters [pictured below].

All in all, this was a spectacular event! A huge thanks to Doc Mack and everyone at Galloping Ghost Arcade for putting it together. Hopefully, this will be the first of many Kombat-Kons to kome! Mortal Kombat Online will feature more sights from the event very soon.

Got your own stories from the first Kombat Kon? We want to hear them! Sign-up or log-in to tell us all your tales on the 2D Kombat Klassics forum! Help support the kommunity by liking & sharing this story via MK_Online and Facebook! Find ]{0MBAT on the forums, on The Kombat Pavilion and @tabmok99!

The simmering boil of Injustice 2 has been unusually quiet for the past few months, but Creative Director Ed Boon has used Twitter to stir the pot back to bubbling life!

Bypassing the curious absence of recent DC Comics character reveals, Boon went for the ever popular talking point of inter-company guest characters. Two polls quizzed fans on their preference between four figures from other franchises.

In the first poll Boon asked which Mortal Kombat character fans would like to see. The quiz returned an emphatic 52% in favour of obvious pick: Sub-Zero. Nearly five thousand votes behind was last year's WWE Immortal guest Johnny Cage at (23%), and alternate mascot god of lightning Raiden (20%). Metal armed All-American Jax was a distant 5%. There were 19,453 votes registered.

Best MK guest character for Injustice 2

— Ed Boon (@noobde) November 17, 2016

Scorpion was the talk of the town in 2013 - the only guest character to invade the superhero domain of Injustice: Gods Among Us [full story]. As a perk of the appearance, Scorpion received a unique design by popular artist and DC Comics Publisher Jim Lee.

Like every NetherRealm Studios crossover before it; the downloadable guest was the highest selling of the post-release bunch. This pretty much assured more guests for Injustice 2 - and interest in counterpart icon Sub-Zero! Ed Boon has been very forthcoming with the likelihood of more guests rolling into the DC fighter after including four in Mortal Kombat XL.

[Related Article: Kountdown: Top 10 Kombat Guests for Injustice 2]

In poll numero dos: Boon looked to the pop culture canon of comics and movies to pick out a curious crop of crossover characters. Perennial fan request Spawn came back with a decisive 45% of 28,182 votes! A character creator and publisher Todd McFarlane has already enthusiastically endorsed in the past with an alleged outstanding deal with Warner Brothers [full story]!

Best Non-MK guest for Injustice 2

— Ed Boon (@noobde) November 17, 2016

Mike Mignola created demon turned paranormal investigator Hellboy (21%) is another independent comics hero, published by Dark Horse. Like Todd McFarlane's Image hero, he's hails from Hell and has bumped into a few DC characters in his time [Batman, Starman].

Buffy (19%) -- presumably the vampire slayer, and not Russian President Vladimir Putin's pet Bulgarian shepherd -- is a curious case with a cult following in TV, Dark Horse comics, and the 1992 film that started it all. A slightly odd choice, unless we should be anticipating more ghouls by gaslight than we currently are.

The Terminator from the film (and comic book) franchise of the same name rounded out the guest character list with a respectable, but not unbeatable 15%. A character who might be more at home with the movie maniacs who've already infested Mortal Kombat X.

[Related Article: MKX DLC: Unpacking Kombat Pack 2 Characters]

So, is it time to start counting down the days until Sub-Zero and Spawn arrive as Injustice 2 DLC? Not so fast, El Savitar! These aren't unreasonable expectations, but it's worth remembering that Uncle Ed has been asking for opinions on a lot of topics that are yet to produce results: MKX absentees, MKX absentettes, post-MKX project, preferred MKXL news.

If Boon's motive is actually to get people talking in the right direction before the real news shows up: Consider that mission accomplished, and reset your fan phasers to 'Not Crazy' while taking the wait and see approach.

The inclusion of guest fighters is always popular, but divisive. Where do you fall? Register to share your superheroic thoughts and suggestions on the DC Universe Injustice forum! Subscribe and tag MK Online on MK_Online and Facebook.

More than a year after reports Furious 7 director James Wan would step in to produce: The Mortal Kombat movie may have found its director!

Variety reports Australian director Simon McQuoid is in talks to make his international feature film debut with the long anticipated video game adaptation.

The acclaimed advertising director is best known for commercial work, producing ads for: PlayStation, Xbox, HP, Beats by Dre, Samsung, Logitech, Nissan and Duracell [embedded below], along with other high profile brands. Much of McQuoid's work features effects work and slick production - skills perfectly suited to bringing the world of Mortal Kombat to life!

Variety also reports Greg Russo is the most recent writer to draft a script. Michael Clear (Atomic Monster), Todd Garner & Jeremy Stein (Broken Road) will join Wan as producers. Lawrence Kasanoff will executive produce.

Kasanoff is best remembered for grandfathering Mortal Kombat's original assault on the box office in 1995. His gamble on director Paul WS Anderson delivered a breakout hit in his first American feature. Kasanoff's Threshold Entertainment was also responsible for a less successful 1997 sequel (Annihilation), as well as two television series.

Little is known about the course of this new Mortal Kombat feature film, but all indications suggest it's the most likely push to bring the franchise back to the big screen to produce results. Representation of the material will become the biggest concern for fans, but as the deviant Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries fades into obscurity, fans have at least some reasons to remain hopeful.

In August, [James] Wan expressed his appreciation for the source material: "... They ended up creating such interesting characters and I think that is such a cool world to explore. This really mythical, bigger world that lives on another dimension on top of ours." Wan is getting familiar with adapting big name universes for Warner Brothers. He's currently directing Aquaman - the DC Comics superhero appearing in Injustice 2.

[Related Article: From Sprite to Screen: Mortal Kombat versus the Movies]

What do you want to see from a Mortal Kombat movie? Register to share your thoughts on this and other products on the Media & Merchandise forum! Support the kommunity by liking & sharing this and other stories via @MK_Online & Facebook. Special thanks to MK Online User Poasty-Guy for submitting a news lead.