Fifteen years after the last Mortal Kombat sequel received its theatrical release -- excerpts from a new production script have been teased by director, Kevin Tancharoen!

Released via micro-blogging site Twitter (@KTANCH), the script snapshots [below] offer the vaguest glimpse into a reboot still largely enshrouded in mystery. Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Jax feature in expected roles, but Kabal adds an unexpected reference to excite fans of the games.


Last year, Tancharoen directed Mortal Kombat: Legacy, a nine episode live-action series released via YouTube, which reportedly attracted the largest viewing audience the site has seen for serial content of this type. Detailing brief segments from the earliest parts of characters' journey, it remains unknown if the series will provide a direct prologue to a theatrical release.

In a 2011 interview with MovieWeb, Tancharoen discussed the potential for mapping the Mortal Kombat saga across different mediums and formats:

I think that, with a property or a franchise which has the scope that Mortal Kombat does, I think it's interesting to use different mediums to showcase different parts of that universe. I think the web series itself helps motivate a bunch of back stories. I still think that a feature version of it would be gigantic, but it also works to do both. You have the supporting episodes on the web, that people will get into the origin stories and all that stuff. The movie is obviously the big event, and you see things like that happening quite a bit now. Like, for instance, I'm getting ready for Sucker Punch to come out, and, on the internet, supporting it, are a bunch of animated shorts. It's kind of like how The Animatrix opened up the world of The Matrix and made it much bigger. It's not in the feature film, but it made the universe gigantic, and you were able to see different stories with it.

Michael Jai White and Ian Anthony Dale starred respectively as Legacy's Jax and Scorpion, with Kevan Ohtsji as Sub-Zero. Two-part episodes introduced the characters in feature roles, establishing rivalries that have motivated the characters through many of their most iconic appearances.

Though Kabal does not feature in the Legacy shorts, Kano and the Black Dragon appear throughout, establishing a relationship with the Lin Kuei that is predicated on cybernetic enhancements. In the games, Kabal is a morally ambiguous survivor of Outworld attack, with ties to the Black Dragon and an advanced life support system that enhances his fighting skills. This relationship may appear to bring him into conflict with Jax, in the script. It will be Kabal's first appearance in a film, having only been referenced by name in the 1997 critical flop, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.


Sub-Zero as he appeared in first-look Mortal Kombat: Legacy teaser. [full story]

The teaser images follow widely reported rumors of leaked plot details [full story], which the director took a vague swipe at in another tweet. The rumors, describing a 'lowly supermarket employee' who discovers hidden powers, play to urbanized versions of the characters that appeared in Tancharoens job-winning showreel, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth [more], and certain segments of the Legacy series. The legitimacy of the claim remains unverified.

Look back upon the build to the live-action series with Mortal Kombat Online's extensive Legacy coverage kompendium. Discuss all the history and updates on the Merchandise & Media forum. For live updates and analysis, follow @MK_Online and follow Facebook.