Warner Bros. latest animated project, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is now available in the UK. The film is a direct followup to last year’s Scorpion’s Revenge and serious ups the ante when it comes to translating the franchise trademark action to the screen.
We recently sat down with the producer of both Mortal Kombat Legends films, Rick Morales, to discuss the process of bringing the games to the screen. Here’s what he had to say…
Was it always in your mind that there would be a sequel to Scorpion’s Revenge?
Yeah, we knew pretty early on that we’d be able to do another one of these and so we, you know, when we started planning the first one, we had it in the back of our heads where where it would lead and what path we were going to take it.
And did you always plan to go bigger with the story following the previous film?
Like I said, we knew early on that we were going to we were going to get two of these that we were going to get to, to be able to tell one story and basically through two films. There’s no guarantee that there will ever be another one or anything like that. So we wanted to try to tell a complete story and just throw as much of the Mortal Kombat world into these films as we possibly could. Netherrealm was really on board with this too, to show things that haven’t really been seen before. So the places we we take this film, especially towards the end, it’s big, it’s otherworldly. I don’t think that that’s something that you typically see in Mortal Kombat.
You mentioned working with Netherrealm and I know co-creator Ed Boon consulted on these films. How was it working with them?
I’ve worked with with other companies before on projects, and you always hope going in that it’s going to be like a good collaborative thing, and that you’re going to get on well. Ed has been amazing and in his team… I really look to them, to make sure that, that we’re doing justice to their creations. He’s the guy, he’s the guy that created this stuff. He knows more about it than I will ever know and so the great thing about them is that they are open to new ideas, they are open to us taking this franchise places that possibly no one has seen before. And in fact, they’re very encouraging to do that. But they also keep us on the right path if we’re going to skew on a design or something like that and it’s all about being faithful to the subject matter. They’ve been very good guides for us and very good collaborators as well.
Are you feeling the anticipation yet from the fans for this film to be out in the world?
Yeah, I think people are excited about it. I mean, I was happy with the response to Scorpion’s Revenge because the response could have gone any number of ways. But I was pleased. I’m a fan of this stuff as well, I don’t get the opportunity to play it as much as I as I used to when I was a kid, but, but I’m familiar with it. I’ve known the world since I was playing it in the arcades back in the 90s. I want to see it done right to see the characters that I love.
I know these characters and I know all the potential that they hold. In a way Scorpion’s Revenge was close to what people saw in the first live-action film. It covered some of the same ground as far as them going to the island and the tournament and all that stuff. But it was a twist on it.
You can catch our full interview with Rick in the next episode of the GYCO Podcast.
In our review Neil said the film “is the quintessentially perfect followup to Scorpion’s Revenge. Bigger, bolder and braver in every way it proves why a Mortal Kombat animated franchise deserves to exist.”
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is directed by Ethan Spaulding (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Batman: Assault on Arkham) from a script by Jeremy Adams (Supernatural, Justice Society: World War II) and based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Rick Morales (Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Batman vs. Two-Face) is Producer. Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) is Producer. Executive Producer is Sam Register. Ed Boon (NetherRealm Studios) is Creative Consultant.
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