It remains one of the most important dates on the competitive fighting game calendar -- but before there can be an Evo World Championship there is the traditional announcing of featured titles! Mortal Kombat 1 has officially been added to the lineup, continuing a steady presence for NetherRealm Studios fighters with the debut of their latest game! Read on for more detail:

It's been a bumpy ride since the launch of Mortal Kombat 1, but technical struggles haven't stopped the latest game picking up where Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate left off. It will feature beneath headlining titles like the returning headliner Street Fighter 6 and freshly launched titan Tekken 8! Evo 2024 will also mark the 20th anniversary of "Evo Moment 37" with the return of vintage favourite Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike!

Players will compete for global competitive supremacy a little earlier this year, arriving at the Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall for a weekend of battle July 19th-21st. Registration and attendance booking information is now available at the official website: Evo.gg.

The new era of MK1 will dawn in July - but will the destiny of this timeline be yours to shape? Share your thoughts about the 2024 Evo Lineup and your journey to the championship in the comments below. Find more discussion in the Mortal Kombat 1 category.

We still have a wait ahead of us until the Mortal Kombat movie sequel becomes a theatrical release, but the first major step has been taken with principal photography in Australia officially wrapping. The milestone was marked on social media by cast & crew alike. Take a look:

Producer Todd Garner has been a prolific presence on social media throughout the months of filming, sharing a multitude of teaser images from the set including the first-look at Tati Gabrielle as Jade. This time he posted a video message to X (aka; Twitter) from a jungle-type location, thanking fans and stressing that there will be a wait for the first trailer.

Hey, kombatants. Well, that's a wrap for me on Mortal Kombat. This has been an incredible, incredible journey. Uh, can't wait for you all to see what we've done. It's gonna be a while! We have a lot of work to do. I know I'm gonna start getting a lot of messages about, like, "When is the trailer? When is the trailer?" It's gonna be while! Uh, we're gonna work hard. We're gonna get it done - and uh... I think we've made something special. I hope you guys agree. Thanks.

Kung Lao actor Max Huang also shared photos to Instagram of the cast wrap party attended by returning star Lewis Tan (Cole Young) and newcomers Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Ana Thu Nguyen (Sindel), Desmond Chaim (Shao Kahn), and CJ Bloomfield (Baraka).

Do you think the upcoming film sequel will be something special? What are you hoping to see from the second outing for this iteration? Share your thoughts in the comments below and keep the discussion going in the Media & Merchandise category!

Photographs from behind the scenes of the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie sequel continue to tease major characters as producer Todd Garner gives us our first glimpse at props, sets, and players from the new movie. The coming of Johnny Cage leads the latest crop of images with our first look at a key piece of Cage wardrobe, as well as a returning actor and sinister mystery men. Take a look:

Back in the arcade days Johnny infamously shed Otomix branding from his gear, but ever since the 2011 video game reboot our man's commitment to branding has seen him wearing the Cage name on a variety of customizable belt buckles - and even tattooed across his chest!

When Karl Urban steps in to the role it looks as if he'll be continuing this recent trend, as indicated by a chunky metal belt accessory in one of the latest photos shared by Garner. A similar buckle appears on a movie poster at the end of the 2021 film, teasing Cage's future in the coming sequel.

On set photography has also shown us a black & white close up of returning actress Jessica McNamee, who returns as Sonya Blade, but the real intrigue is in two of the other snaps teasing something new for the sequel!

One image shows a looming hooded figure who the producer has confirmed is not Noob Saibot! With a dark veil covering the individual's face, it's difficult to know for sure if this is a dark presence on the movie's periphery -- or a featured character whose identity is being kept a secret. A pale hand featured in another shot has inspired widespread speculation that it's the first hint of Quan Chi (Damon Herriman).

[Related Article: Mortal Kombat Movie Sequel Casts Shao Kahn, Sindel, Quan Chi & King Jerrod]

Who do you think the mystery figures are? What do you think about Cage's belt? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and keep the movie conversation coming in the Media & Merchandise category!

The upcoming Mortal Kombat movie sequel is set to introduce some of the major players from Outworld into the film canon, but we won't have to wait until official trailers to get a small taste of things to come! The film's producer has shared the first look at Jade, and glimpses of iconic weaponry from the production. Take a look:

Todd Garner has been sharing copious photographs from the production, and although most have been limited to abstract pieces of set and props, his output in January has given us some vivid previews of iconic items belonging to key characters.

Eagle-eyed fans will have spotted Kitana's fan in the first film, and now we can see the edge of its bladed protuberances poking out from decorative blue folds. There's also Shao Kahn's war hammer, what looks like an LED projected portal, and even Tati Gabrielle in close up! The You actress joined the cast as Jade after rumors started swirling last May.

Garner's photos, shared to X (formerly Twitter), also give us a nice look at a clapboard with the Mortal Kombat II movie logo. It shows the golden movie version of the dragon slithering between the columns of a Roman two.

[Related Article: Mortal Kombat Movie Sequel Casts Princess Kitana]

The MK sequel, with working title "Mortal Kombat II", is filming in Australia for an as yet unconfirmed release date with returning director Simon McQuoid. It looks as if at least one of the locations in the film will include a sweaty rainforest environment, perhaps the Kuatan Jungle or newcomer Johnny Cage's next movie?

What do you think of these latest teases from the theatrical sequel? Are you excited to see more from the movie universe? Share your thoughts in the comments below and go deeper into discussion in the Media & Merchandise category!

Since its earliest days serving mail order collector's editions -- Mortal Kombat has always had one foot in the world of comic books, but if proposed plans had gone ahead several years ago, the series could have become part of the DC Comics Universe itself. Writer Gail Simone has revisited the topic, offering new details from what would have been a dramatic reinvention for both brands:

Liu Kang and Kung Lao rubbing shoulders with Bronze Tiger and Richard Dragon? Jax and Sonya cutting departmental red tape from Amanda Waller and Checkmate? Raiden and Fujin at odds with Darkseid and the New Gods? It's not the plot of a sequel to Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe -- but the kinds of natural scenarios that might've eventuated from MK's incorporation into the DCU.

The popular writer of series such as Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman first revealed elaborate plans for a multi-series Mortal Kombat project back in 2019. The revelation came after an extensive period of research the prior year, which saw Simone's output dip as she versed herself in the mythologies of MK and My Little Pony -- a separate licensed project, at the time.

In a series of posts to X (formerly Twitter); Simone details more about the project, which was first brought to her over a seafood lunch at San Diego Comic-Con by Dan DiDio. In their meeting, the then-DC Comics Publisher revealed a list of Warner Brothers owned properties they could potentially adapt to comic books, leveraging established fan bases for new reader sales. A similar strategy is credited with financially saving Marvel Comics when they published Star Wars in 1977 & '78.

Comic books based on licensed properties are nothing new, but according to Simone, this initiative could've seen selected brands incorporated into the shared fabric of the DC Universe itself -- assuming necessary rights hurdles could have been cleared. Although the writer no longer remembers the list of potential IP, she cites "various Bugs Bunny-type things" and "things like the Three Stooges and tons of toy lines and action movie franchises. It was an incredible list."

Simone herself selected Mortal Kombat, which was acquired by Warner Brothers when Midway Games was approved for sale in 2009. The writer identified MK as ripe for laying out its "confusing" lore in "big" on-going series, which would also bolster the martial arts and godly pantheons of the DC Universe, which she describes as "less fully-realized" than Marvel's well known counterparts.

Details of the 12-issue maxi-series, and three resulting spin-offs, aren't on offer yet, but Simone's example of regular fighting match-ups between characters like Scorpion and Plastic Man, in a now "annual" tournament, suggests the stakes of inter-realm conflict may have been raised beyond the traditional fifty year timeline between Outworld and Earthrealm, and may have even incorporated the concept of multiple Earths.

And finally, the idea of an annual fighting tournament for the various realms, that could be a MASSIVE boost to the DCU's coolness factor. Black Canary fighting Sonya Blade, Superman vs. Raiden, Plastic Man vs. Scorpion...the matches would have been huge.

10/

— Gail Simone 💙💛 (@GailSimone) January 2, 2024

The writer, as well as fans and contemporaries, such as Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe scribe Jimmy Palmiotti, have praised Dan DiDio for his spirit of risk taking. Simone notes: "Lots of execs tried to keep their heads down, he always wanted to try something new, and a lot of exceptional comics came from that. I really appreciate that quality."

The concept likely would've challenged and radically altered perceptions of the Mortal Kombat reality, but such inclusions into the DC Universe are not unusual. With DC's controversial line-wide New 52 reboot in 2011, they incorporated Jim Lee's creations of the former Image Comics published Wildstorm Universe, into the DCU, adding to a tapestry that famously acquired Captain Marvel (aka; Shazam) in the 1970s, and even upcoming Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack guest character Peacemaker -- who was originally a Charlton Comics creation by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette.

So why didn't it happen? We simply don't know for sure.

DC previously published Mortal Kombat X tie-in comics in 2015 & 2016, but Simone alludes to "simple corporate stuff" leading to a "sad end" to her year's worth of work. Whether this was a corporate reevaluation of the property, with a view to its value as a separate video game and multimedia brand, or a rejection by rights holders of the original IP, will be a matter of pure speculation for now.

[Related Article: Feature: The Importance of Comics to Mortal Kombat]

such as Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe scribe Jimmy Palmiotti, have praised Dan DiDio for his spirit of risk taking. Simone notes: "Lots of execs tried to keep their heads down, he always wanted to try something new, and a lot of exceptional comics came from that. I really appreciate that quality."

Despite noting the difficulties the 2011 franchise reboot and its new timeline introduced to the adaptation process; "MK's lore is a bit confusing and they don't have a clear timeline (or didn't at the time)"; the writer added praise for the most recent timeline restart of Mortal Kombat 1.

Oh! Also, PS, the new Mortal Kombat game does a fantastic job laying out the new lore, it's really excellent and the writing is top notch.

— Gail Simone 💙💛 (@GailSimone) January 2, 2024

So what do you think about this wild what if scenario? How much would MK gain or lose in the transaction of entering the DCU? Would you like to see more Mortal Kombat comics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and go deeper into discussion in the Mortal Kombat 1, Comic Book & Merchandise, and DC Universe Injustice categories!