Awesome!

Can't wait to see what it's like!

Hmmm not sure what to think about this.

In some ways I like it because its another MK thing out there. I do like the idea in general as long as it is a compeltely seperate entity from the games etc. Also its another reinvention which can only be good for MKs future.

On the other hand, I like the fanatsy element of MK, having different realms, demons, creatures etc etc This seems to be basing it more as MK being an earth only thing.

So I shall remain on the fence for now/

Also, Jeri Ryan as Sonya is epic!

Im excited but cautious at the same time.

We'll see. I like what he did with the trailer. I jsut want to know if WB wants it placed within the canon.

I'm extremely excited for this. If it's anything like what I saw, then I have high hopes for it. I enjoyed that trailer very very much when it first came out and still enjoy it to this day.

It doesn't make me any less of an MK fan to enjoy seeing that they aren't necessarily going with MK mythos. I can't wait to see these episodes.

My only question is how these episodes will be released. I'm assuming this will probably get a website based around it, headed by WB.

To be blunt:


Every complaint here basically boils down to a fear that this will somehow invalidate someones cozy little preconception of what MK is, magically travelling back in time and undoing everything that has been more or less the same at the core for 9 consecutive games,

...3 standalone expansion games for the world,

...comic books, and forbid, fan fiction.


Suck it. You have no right to complain, you have altogether 12 games - Special Forces included for the masochists- to go back if you want your dosage of the core MK feeling.

What gives you the right to obstruct or complain about something that is stylistically different, but carries the same source material? You wil not want to see it. We get it. Big deal. No one cares about your pathetic preconceptions or your taste on the internet. No sane man will take an argument about the purity of MK being violated by this seriously. If you cannot resolve the tension inside you because you are irked by it's very existence than go see a pszchiatric ward.

Either way, shut up and don't pay attention to this. Easy.

Shao Kahn wearing a pimp skull hat. He pimps out Mileena and Kitana as his prostitutes, Goro is a deformed bouncer/enforcer, Scorpion is a yakuza hitman, sub-zero is shredder ala 2011.

I liked the MK Rebirth project. It's alternate continuity that might use some of the characters and concepts, but it will have its own seperate canon. MK Games have their canon, and the web series will have its own. End of story. What bothers me though is his qoute of ditching "the Asian mysticism prescence". I prefer that in MK as opposed to Gates of Hell demonic bullshit that plagues every other horror movie. Hail Satan and the seven lords and ladies of hell. Christ, if Shao Kahn ends up turning into a demon, I'm calling shenigans and stryker can beat him to death with his nightstick.

Come to think of it, Stryker could actually work in this seres considering its more "gritty and grimdark"

I think it's cute that there are people that think Rebirth brought nothing to the MK franchise. Rebirth had people interested in this series that wouldn't have given it time of day. One could even argue it even overshadowed MK2011's debut trailer...

I'm sure there'd be different experiences somewhere out there, but on MKO, and other broad gaming sites, the first game trailer released did wonders to silence discussion about the Rebirth trailer in the immediate sense. Sure, references have trickled out since, but focus snapped straight back to the game, as it should.

Reactions to Rebirth, then and now, are just so utterly baffling.
They exhibit a willingness to change that has almost never been vocally present in MK fans before. A willingness that's either completely irrational or completely logical, if you consider the material's complete divorcal from anything baring the name, trademarks, or intellectual property of Mortal Kombat before. It is something else, and liking something else makes sense. Ascribing it to Mortal Kombat, however, does not.

The director describes the series as something 'dark, evil, rebellious' through the lens of a twelve year old. I wonder if some fans continue to see the same distorted vision of what the games actually ever were. I wonder what part previous efforts, like Annihilation, have to play in accepting something that's tonally reversed, but ultimately lacking in the cartoon references that were stylistically to Annihilation's detriment, but at least paid lip service to the franchise as it existed at that point. I wonder how much the MK team's occasional bungles with the canon have had an influence. I wonder how much trends and misperceptions of trends have to play.

Threshold's MK: Federation of Martial Arts had martial artists doing a somewhat contemporary take on what that meant to film. It was also not at all in line with the canon of the games, but for it's indulgence in certain basic ideas and characters, was a lot easier to accept as a product of Mortal Kombat, rather than something that coincidentally bared it's name.

It clearly isn't an issue of rejecting change, or even pattern inaccuracy.

Brands like this get a finite number of chances to be adapted into other mediums. What we've had so far has been a pretty mixed bag. Giving up an opportunity for something that in no way reflects the characters or material of the brand itself is a reasonable thing to be utterly disappointed in.

Never seen it, never will.

My only fear is this is just the beginning of the incessant bitching. People won't be able to state their opinion and move on, nope, the SAME people are going to bash this series every time a new episode is unleashed. It just won't end.

Why put so much energy into this? As Chrome said, don't pay attention to it. Don't ruin the fun for those of us who want to experience it. That's just a dickhead move.

I think the purist are missing one huge thing here ... WB is making this a web series because they obviously want to keep their options open for an eventual new MK movie. So why is everyone getting so worked up ?

Why care about other people caring?
That's an awfully slippery, nonsensical slope.

Because it can take only a few big mouths to ruin it for EVERYONE. THATS why. It's not "nonsensical". Who knows, this man might look at these negative reactions and think we ALL feel that way.

Lmao

I loved how the rebirth trailer had the urban look of MK3, with the city and streets and everything! I think this webseriues will be great and has so much potential for doing something great with the "idea" of MK.

wierd

not expecting this to be good

What silenced talk about Rebirth wasn't MK2011, The fact that we discovered what Rebirth was, a high quality fan made pitch, is what silenced talk about Rebirth

"In no way reflects characters or material"



Scorpion may a not be a spectre, but he and Johnny Cage are both very much their video game counterparts.. Shang Tsung was still at the center of a death match tournament and Baraka and Reptile still his slaves. Also you're criticism of Rebirth being " through the eyes of a twelve year old" is laughable given how how campy and downright juvenile the core franchise is. Rebirth is far more adult in direction and narrative tone than ANY entry in the core series.

^^ This

Peronsally, I don't like to watch an adaptation that doesn't stay faithful to it's source material, but tries to recreate everything. If these 10 webisodes look just like the film pitch, "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth " I will not bother watching them. However, I will not take this MK: Reborn sereis too seriously since it's confirmed that this is just another "pitch" to promote an R rated film reboot in the near future. I didn't hear WB say they were gonna base the next movie on this web series either.

You are aware that Warner Bros. is producing the Web series right? That's about as official as it gets.

"Tancharoen the opportunity to produce an official series of ten short webisodes for Warner Brothers; current proprietors of the Mortal Kombat license and trademarks. "

That doesn't mean WB will base the next movie off of it.

If the thing does well, You can bet your ass they will.

I am absolutely excited about this.

I will be even more excited, if this series will follow MKR vision and ideas.
I remember, when it was stated, that MKR had nothing to do with the MK9 I was quite disappointed. And my disappoiintmnet only grew bigger with the time, especially, when I knew that MK9 will be essentially MK2 / UMK3 remake.

My favorite game in the series, next to MKDA, is MK3, because for me it was an ideal combination of the Earth and outworld themes (pun somewhat intended). That's why I loved MKR - it striked a good balance of supernatural and mystic things. Of course after MK lost this balance in MK4, some people get use to the idea that MK always was mostly about fantasy worlds and not earth.

It's an awesome thing for me that this series possibly will create an another take on MK, something new, fresh, unlike content that we had in the games for the last years (and in MK9). I am all for this idea and if it would lead to the full-length movie that would be just outstanding.

P.S.
I completely agree with Chrome and everyone who said that people must be more open minded about interpretation of the MK'verse and stop reacting as if new version of their precious MK is a sacrilige or something. People have right to interpret ideas and stories as they see fit. That's called art.

Michael Jai White rules so hard.

I think it both instances that's working awfully hard to make concessions.

Both here, and abroad, there was a (disturbingly) positive running dialogue about Rebirth (even after it was quickly confirmed to be a demo reel). That dialogue was just as steady and as quickly changed when they released the first game trailer, almost in response to Rebirth. It would be too much to say that the world forgot Rebirth all together, but the game absolutely silenced discussion about 'kewl gritty dark mature' deviations, and got things back on track.

Beneath the circumstances of a city of bizarre criminals and maniacs, and a failed actor-turned-mediocre undercover cop and a yakuza hitman there might be a vestige of the characters of Mortal Kombat, but as I said. I think that's working very hard to make concessions for something that is broadly and ultimately irrelevant to the source material. It is not a reflection of the Mortal Kombat license or intellectual properties.

That's by no means a reason to ignore it, or dislike it.
It is, however, a very fundamental reason to in no way connect it with Mortal Kombat. The throughline is tenuous, if not absent. It is, in and of itself, already significantly removed.

As you imply, MK has historically been a colourful, less malicious brand. It's the perspective of a twelve year old that incorrectly transcribes the cartoon gimmicks as actually ever having been nasty, or grim. This is mentioned in the interview quote in the article, the director himself describes his vision as referencial to the perspective of a twelve year old. That perspective and interpretation of the nature and tone of Mortal Kombat should not be confused with any stylistic choices regarding the series.


If that's your angle, I don't think you have to worry too much. Read through any of a number of interviews and you'll note that [Kevin Tancharoen] isn't naive enough to think everyone's going to like something so far removed from the source material. To the chagrin of critics, I'm sure, he shows a pretty confident disregard for "purists" that might not be on board straight away. If WB is backing it, then there's not too much to stop it. Especially not when there has been such overwhlemingly positive buzz.