Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 is rebooting the franchise and adding big-name celebrities like Megan Fox and Jean-Claude Van Damme, which will elevate the storytelling experience.
- The inclusion of recognizable actors in Mortal Kombat 1's roster makes sense due to the game's cinematic nature and will help attract a wider audience.
- While star power isn't necessary for Mortal Kombat's success, the presence of big stars adds to the game's personality and offers a more engaging experience for players.
Mortal Kombat 1 is just a few weeks away, and it will usher in a new era for the franchise. This new entry will be rebooting the series' timeline once again, and in doing so, can re-imagine each character in new and exciting ways. Megan Fox will be portraying Nitara, and Jean-Claude Van Damme will be in the game on launch. On top of this, the game's first Kombat Pass features Homelander, Omni Man, and Peacemaker, some of whom will presumably be voiced by their likenesses. Mortal Kombat 1 is going all out in terms of featuring big names, and while it has never needed star power to tell its story, it will only help elevate the franchise.
Fighting game story modes have grown a lot more substantial in recent years. Much of this progress within the genre can be attributed to the success of Mortal Kombat's storytelling. Starting with Mortal Kombat 9, each game has featured a lengthy cinematic story mode. These story modes play out like movies with playable fights. While this sounds simple, storytelling in the genre before was relegated to still screens between fights. Mortal Kombat opened the door for itself to tell a story with a sprawling cast. MK is one of the most successful fighting game franchises in part because its beefy single-player offerings, including its story modes, mean that casual players don't need to turn to multiplayer to find fun.
Movie Stars Make Sense For Mortal Kombat
Given that the story is such an important part of the Mortal Kombat formula, MK1's move to include more big-name celebrities makes sense. The presentation of Mortal Kombat stories relies heavily on cutscenes and cinematic presentation, so access to higher caliber actors will elevate what the team is capable of and make their stories more emotionally engaging. The presence of recognizable actors will also help the story feel more movie-like and bring the game to a wider audience. Given that Mortal Kombat's story has always aspired to be a playable film, the decision to include movie stars makes total sense.
Even outside of storytelling, the presence of big stars in Mortal Kombat is fun. Mortal Kombat 1 will feature Jean-Claude Van Damme totally detached from its story mode. He will be a skin for Johnny Cage with fully acted voice lines. He is being added to the game simply because it's a cool head nod to the action star whose movies have likely influenced the franchise. While there are no other celebrity skins announced at the moment, more could be implemented in additional content since they are a fun Easter egg that keeps fans engaged without impacting balance or gameplay. Given that MK is a Warner Bros. franchise, the series could include a variety of action movie stars, both young and old.
Mortal Kombat 1 Is The Perfect Time To Add Big Stars
Mortal Kombat 1 is also the perfect time to start including more stars. Like MK9 before it, this new entry will be rebooting the franchise. MK11 saw Liu Kang become the fire god and reset the world's timeline in an attempt to create a world with less suffering. Mortal Kombat 1's trailers have already shown that the developers are taking full advantage of this opportunity by re-imagining certain characters and their dynamics with one another. Given that this is a fresh start for the franchise, now is the time for the developers to recast characters and set the expectation for future games to have bigger stars attached to them as well.
Mortal Kombat has remained popular because of its fun characters, generous amounts of content, and memorable stories. A star-studded cast isn't necessary for any of this, but given the cinematic nature of the story, the presence of recognizable actors in Mortal Kombat 1's roster should only help elevate the experience. Mortal Kombat has always oozed personality and stronger performances, and recognizable faces will only add to this. For those who are not pulled in by the presence of celebrities or even the game's story, Mortal Kombat 1 will still have a plethora of gameplay modes and more open-ended gameplay than previous entries.
Mortal Kombat 1 will launch on September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
