Highlights

  • Mortal Kombat 1's lack of character customization disappointed fans initially, but Mortal Kombat 11's gear system became a fan favorite.
  • Mortal Kombat 1 faces controversies with its traditional skin system and high paywall for some skins, but upcoming skins might change that.
  • Potential crossovers with Mortal Kombat movies, including references to past films and the upcoming 2025 sequel, could bring exciting new content.

One of the biggest criticisms of Mortal Kombat 1 since its launch last September has been its lack of character customization, at least compared to its predecessor. Mortal Kombat 11 introduced an in-depth gear system where players could swap out three different aspects of a character's outfit for both cosmetic and gameplay benefits. Though this feature was fairly controversial at the time of Mortal Kombat 11's release, it's since become a fan-favorite feature, allowing players to mix and match outfits to create a truly unique version of iconic fighters.

However, Mortal Kombat 1 made the decision to scrap its predecessor's gear system in favor of a more traditional skin system. But this has come with its own set of controversies, with many skins being considered lackluster, and some drawing ire for being locked behind an absurdly high paywall. But Mortal Kombat 1's upcoming sixth season could introduce a set of skins that fans might be willing to drop the cash for, and it should mark the start of a big crossover event.

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Mortal Kombat 1's 1995 Movie Skins Should Only Be the Beginning

Back at the start of May, Mortal Kombat and NetherRealm Chief Creative Officer Ed Boon took to Twitter to tease a new look for MK1's Scorpion. This screenshot showed Scorpion dressed in his simplistic Mortal Kombat 1995 movie attire, and Boon teased that there was more to come. While it hasn't been revealed if there are any other Mortal Kombat 1995 movie skins coming to MK1, it seems likely that a few will follow Scorpion in this upcoming season. But there's much more potential here than just one or two skins.

Mortal Kombat 1 Has a Few More Movies It Could Reference

A few weeks after his initial Tweet, Ed Boon took to Twitter once more to put up a poll asking what other Mortal Kombat movies fans would like to see get skins in MK1. By the time the poll ended, the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie had received most of the votes (30.6%), while the so-bad-it's-good 1997 Mortal Kombat Annihilation came in second place with 26.7% of the votes. Interestingly, the 2020 animated movie Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge was also listed in the poll, along with "Upcoming MK2 movie peek." And it's this latter poll option that could end up paving the way for a big Mortal Kombat 1 event in 2025.

Mortal Kombat 1 Should Cross Over With 2025's Mortal Kombat Sequel

The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie wasn't amazing, but it did have a few brief glimpses of genuine greatness sprinkled throughout, and it's these moments that have kept fans hopeful for the upcoming sequel. Currently set to release on October 24, 2025, Mortal Kombat 2 will continue this live-action saga, and introduce Karl Urban's Johnny Cage.

When the time comes, it would be great to see Mortal Kombat 1 help out the movie as much as possible, and the easiest way to do that is by adding a few skins based on the movie's unique character designs. But there's more that Mortal Kombat 1 could do to promote the Mortal Kombat movie sequel. Just as the movie hits theaters, MK1 could introduce a new season of Invasions themed around the movie's characters and story. Completing certain milestones could unlock skins based on the movie, with the final reward being a Karl Urban Johnny Cage skin.