Fans have been scanning for clues as to which other fighters might be involved following the release of the first trailer for the R-rated Mortal Kombat reboot.
While it’s great to see so many classic warriors appearing from the iconic video game, such as Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero, at the heart of the story, there’s also some major interest in the character: Cole Young (Lewis Tan).
Cole is an MMA fighter intended to fight to determine the destiny of all realms in the tournament, but while it seems like he’s an original character, that might be a misdirection. It could be that Cole is actually the son of Scorpion and the next one in line to be the wraith, given the subtle clues in the trailer.
The trailer reveals Cole’s brand with the MK symbol on his chest in the early stages, a sign of warriors meant to compete in Shang Tsung’s competition.
But the franchise’s newest lead character sports yellow bands on his hands as Jax talks to him about being chosen, something that is known to appear in Scorpion’s outfit. Later, when Cole looks in the mirror, Hanzo Hasashi/fiery Scorpion’s appearance appears, further suggesting that there is a connection between them.
In the games, as part of Quan-plan Chi’s to turn Hanzo into a revenant, Scorpion has a son who was killed, and this trailer suggests that Hanzo might suffer the same fate. There are other options as to Cole’s identity, however, without any confirmation that Sub-Zero is targeting Scorpion’s family, including that the boy was hidden away, most likely via mystical means, and is not the same character from the game.
Either way, the identity of Cole will probably explain why Hanzo continues to track him. It was said that Hanzo was from feudal Japan, but that could also be a misdirection to hide how old Cole and Hanzo really are. In reality, there are many reasons why the boy could have been hidden, particularly since he was destined to liberate the realms and to break the cycle of the Emperor.
Having Cole as the son of Scorpion would also explain why Shang Tsung wants Cole dead, and Sub-Zero is vehement in pursuing him because once and for all, the ninja would want to extinguish the Shirai Ryu clan.
Sure, having Hanzo pass the mantle would be an interesting and bold strategy, but it makes more sense for it to be his son who inherits it.
As Hanzo looked after Kenshi’s son, Takeda, in MKX, it would also be a poetic choice, meaning finding Cole could bring much-needed closure.
In reality, this situation could provide the franchise with a new hero to explore and shape future stories.
Someone needs to take down the building of the empire of Shao Kahn, who is better than the son of the most formidable warrior of the franchise.
