The portals to the DC Universe are opening again -- and Mortal Kombat is front-and-centre among a group of popular guest stars arriving in DC Comics! Special guest Ed Boon appeared at the Jim Lee and Friends panel at New York Comic-Con to announce the surprise crossover which features another familiar face from Mortal Kombat 1. Read on for more:
Characters from the Dynamite Comics and Warner Bros stables will appear in a "bonus level" tie-in special to the headline-grabbing DC K.O. comics event. Sub-Zero, possibly in his Mortal Kombat 1 guise, appeared in a reveal graphic by artist Jeff Spokes, that also includes legendary comics icon Vampirella, Red Sonja from the Conan universe and Dynamite comics, Samatha The Bear from IDW horror comic Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, Anabelle - spooky doll from The Conjuring films, and fan-favourite fascist villain Homelander -- star of The Boys comics and live-action adaptation, and a Mortal Kombat 1 guest character.
DC K.O.'s loose fighting tournament structure, and quest to defeat the existential threat of big bad New God Darkseid, has already drawn frequent comparisons to Mortal Kombat, and fueled speculation that the next NetherRealm Studios video game could have something in common with comic book, as much as the Injustice series.
As reported by Popverse, DC Comics President Jim Lee explained "We thought it would be really cool to pull in characters from outside the DC multiverse and kind of spice things up". In addition to the February 2026 "bonus level" crossover special, DC K.O. pulls in elements of the popular alternate DC Universe of the "Absolute" comics imprint.
In February, IGN reported that DC Studios Co-Chiefs Peter Safran and James Gunn confirmed talks with NetherRealm Studios during a presentation. Gunn noted "We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages. We talk about those. We talk about when they're talking about what the story might be, we say, ‘Well, maybe you want to go this way because we're planning on maybe doing something with this character and so forth and so on,’ and help to deal with that" In August, Gunn told a Peacemaker press event, ""We have a couple of little DC games coming out. But we also have talked about – and in early stages of planning – some bigger things. One thing in particular I'm excited about, but it does take time. There's been some changes in Warner Bros. Games, and so we're dealing with new people." The changes refer to a corporate restructure of WB Games around tent pole brands.
Fans might have to wait until next year to see who else joins the four-colour comics crossover, and if there's any overlap with NetherRealm's next game, but there's plenty of precedent for the MK/DC meeting to revisit. The brands first met in 2008's Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe video game, before reprising crossovers with DLC characters included in the Injustice [Scorpion], Injustice 2 [Sub-Zero & Raiden], Mortal Kombat 11 [Joker], and Mortal Kombat 1 video games [Peacemaker]. They were together again earlier this year when Mortal Kombat joined the pop culture cast of Fortnite skins.
DC Comics also notably won approval from fans with their 2015 Mortal Kombat X tie-in comic book, which told stories within the time skip between games with a broad cast of characters from series history. A relationship that could've tied the Warner Bros own properties closer together, as detailed by writer Gail Simone, who revealed an aborted pitch to fold the Mortal Kombat characters into the DC Universe permanently!
[Related Article: Feature: The Importance of Comics to Mortal Kombat]
Are you excited to see another battle between MK and DC? What do you think will come of the DC KO special? Share your thoughts & speculation with us in the comments below! Dig deeper into crossover discussion in the DC Universe Injustice category and revisit MK's history with comics in the Media & Merchandise arena!
