Mortal Kombat 2 BTS Image May Hint At The Next Tournament's Location

Few video game franchises have had a more significant impact on pop culture than "Mortal Kombat." Almost single-handedly inventing the one-on-one combat genre, the game was a given to receive a movie treatment. The most recent adaptation is deep in the process of developing a sequel and just got a decent update thanks to producer Todd Garner posting an image to Twitter.

While it only carries a simple caption stating it is BTS, the image shows four shots of what could only be guessed as Outworld, the realm inhabited by some of the most devious villains of the franchise. Of course, we are still a long way off from getting any kind of confirmation that this is the case (likely made longer thanks to the ongoing strike), but we can glean plenty from the images themselves.

2021's "Mortal Kombat" was the reboot fans had been waiting for since the poor reception of the previous film attempt. While the critics gave it an abysmal 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, the fans disagreed, scoring it an 86%. The R-rating certainly helped filmmakers bring the audience the fan service they were hoping for, as the gore in the combat scenes is dialed up to 11. With the possibility that the film is now headed to Outworld, it seems like it will only get bigger and better in all aspects.

The images posted by Todd Garner are simple shots of the interior of a room with red and blue lighting. While we can't see any concrete evidence of where exactly it is located, the lighting and appearance certainly hint at a throne room or palace located somewhere in Outworld. The cast of the film also hints heavily at the near certainty that this is an Outworld location.

Martyn Ford ("Fast 9: The Fast Saga") has taken on the larger-than-life role of Shao Kahn, the leader of Outworld and one of the most feared villains in the franchise. Adeline Rudolph ("Resident Evil") has been cast as Princess Kitana, former royalty of Edenia before it fell to Outworld. And Tati Gabrielle ("Uncharted") is set to appear as Jade, an assassin for Kahn and a personal bodyguard of Princess Kitana.

Finally, Desmond Chiam ("The Falcon and the Winter Soldier") will appear as King Jerrod. While he is a minor character in the games, his identity as the King of Edenia makes Outworld an almost certainty. The three characters above have deep ties to the home of the game's villains, and Jerrod was the king on the throne when Edenia lost Mortal Kombat and fell to Outworld and Shao Kahn. The addition of these four characters in the cast list tells us that "Mortal Kombat 2" will at least partially take place in Outworld, either in a flashback to the fall of Edenia or as a primary storyline.

While 1995's "Mortal Kombat" wasn't a hit with the critics and even the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes fell below the fresh rating, the film gained a bit of a cult following thanks to an iconic score that became a mainstay in dance numbers and sports events. However, the sequel that dropped two years later fell so hard that it is laughably one of the worst video game adaptations and sequels to ever come to fruition. From a near completely gutted cast to killing off fan favorite Johnny Cage, "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" was a doomed project.

There is, however, a mirrored aspect between these two sets of franchise installments. The first film in 1995 saw Earth's heroes take on Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) for the souls of Earth. In the sequel, the story moved to Outworld, where they were forced to band together once more to face Shao Kahn (Brian Thompson). The newest video game adaptations look to follow the same framework by possibly moving the setting for the sequel installment to Outworld and pitting the heroes against Kahn and his warriors.

Luckily, the newest films have a leg up where the first attempt failed. The same cast from the original is returning, which gives us continuity. And there is an addition of the fan-favorite Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) instead of the subtraction of him. Even if we don't know what these behind-the-scenes images depict, we can guess that they signal some excellent fan service moments in "Mortal Kombat 2."