I wouldn't bet on everything from the MK2011's story mode to be accepted into the canon of the next game. NRS will more then likely kill off certain characters, but I doubt they will go as far as what was in seen in the story mode. Because gameplay is just as important as storyline, I think we will see quite a few returning characters. Wouldn't surprise me if some of those returning characters were drastically changed in terms of storyline, looks, and gameplay however.

I'd like it to take a hard left from the previous timeline.

I mean, look at it this way. It got rebooted for a reason. Having the story reinvent itself from the point where things started to go sour is a logical choice.

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Good point.