For a second year Ed Boon has been special guest in the DC FanDome. The NetherRealm Studios Creative Director joined actor Justin Hartley to discuss & preview the upcoming Injustice animated feature. Catch up on the special presentation right here:
The hit video game series has become a successful digital comic book and now an animated feature. Boon joined host, Geoff Keighley, in person, to discuss the unusual path of his DC Comics franchise, and Justin Hartley's performance as a Superman driven to absolute corruption by the human trauma of The Joker's sickening plot.
Batman voice actor Anson Mount (Star Trek Discovery) also made an appearance via video call to introduce a preview that shows the harrowing moment Superman falls for The Joker's grand scheme and makes a decision he can never undo.
The animated version offers a league of DC heroes who haven't appeared in either video game, drawing inspiration from the expansive tie-in comics, as well as introducing all new twists unique to the adaptation. Fans can still expect nods to the source, with Ed Boon noting his excitement at spotting some super moves from the video game.
Some fans were disappointed not to hear the announcement of a third installment of the gaming franchise, but we tried to warn ya! Injustice is officially released to 4K HDTM Combo Pack, Blu-Ray, and digital starting October 19th!
Recent Mortal Kombat milestones have been a relatively sedate affair, but Ed Boon is getting ahead of next year's 30th Anniversary with archival footage from the original 1991 recording sessions. In his first clip he reveals the moment of inspiration that led to the creation of an iconic Scorpion attack -- the rope dart spear! Get over here and watch:
The footage sees live-action Scorpion actor Daniel Pesina receiving instructions from Boon and John Tobias as they navigate from concept to fully realised digitized motion. The credited co-creator shared this footage to his personal Twitter account with a series of tweets that elaborate on the historic moment.
The behind-the-scenes footage may make the creative process look improvised, but Boon notes that it wasn't always so off the cuff: "We certainly did a ton of prep for our video shoots, but some ideas came to us while filming." That preparation no doubt informed their ability to act on the idea, taking into consideration practical gameplay elements, such as speed and interaction with opponent sprites.
One of those details was how fast Scorpion threw the spear, which had to be quick so he could catch opponents by surprise. This meant keeping the animation simple & very few frames. We also wanted the spear to pass over a ducking opponent, so we kept it at chest height. (3/9)
By keeping the rope dart level with shoulder height, it allowed for nuanced player reactions. Blocking will avoid the free hit with minimal damage, but ducking offered another quick defensive measure that allowed players to get back on the offensive.
Scorpion's fast throwing motion helped to maintain an element of surprise, but also kept frames of animation, and the memory required, to a limit. Boon explains, "We were so tight on memory, that we didn’t even capture any motions for the victim reactions. Instead we borrowed from their existing animation frames."
Mortal Kombat is well known for its economic application of reused existing assets: palette swapping notably helped allow Sub-Zero and Reptile to coexist in the game alongside Scorpion. Their iconic attacks might not have been possible without clever use of knockdown sprites for spear contact, and "fatality dizzy" animations for the stunned free-hit.
Boon waxes nostalgic about the footage, recounting some of the things that amuse him watching it thirty years later, including: "... hearing [John Tobias] describe how he wants to make the rope like a snake by saying “shh shh”." A concept Hollywood controversially took very literally in the 1995 feature film adaptation.
Perhaps even more amusing is Tobias' own reflective confession that he wasn't immediately a fan of the move! "[Boon] and I wanted to theme the ‘ninjas’ w fire and ice to differentiate them. So, when Ed had the idea for the rope/spear silly me wasn’t crazy about it because it wasn’t ‘fire’ themed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
Ed also notes that there was more to completing the finished product, such as sound effects and his iconic battle cry: "GET OVER HERE!" A shout that earned the developer a Guinness World Record for longest running US voice actor in a video game!
Finally, while there was SO MUCH more involved with us creating this classic move (fx, sounds) it’s still kool to see the germ of an idea that eventually became so synonymous with Mortal Kombat, and duplicated SO MANY TIMES in future games, movies, tv, animation & comics! (8/9)
The "fly on the wall" footage, as Boon calls it, is an incredible historical record that exists thanks to the games' unique graphical digitization process. It offers fans a tremendous insight into the series' past, and combats some of the misinformation Boon and Tobias have both been critical of in recent years.
Which moments from development of the original Mortal Kombat would you like to see in future installments? Share your thoughts about the invention of Scorpion's Spear in the comments below, and make like Marky Mark and keep those 1991 good vibrations going in the 2D Kombat Klassics forum!
Curating crossover guests from other popular multimedia properties has become a cottage industry for video games. NetherRealm Studios have played host to a dozen familiar faces, but for every one that makes the cut -- there are others that didn't! Ed Boon has revealed another of the many in a recent tweet. Details;
Every indication suggests Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) of the Evil Dead franchise was intended to be part of that list, but something clearly went awry before the deed was done. Creative Director Ed Boon couldn't elaborate on the situation in an interview last year, but he has revealed that another horror/comedy icon has been in conversations "many times over the years": Buffy The Vampire Slayer!
Trust me, her name has come up many times (over the years) in our conversations about possible guests in Mortal Kombat. https://t.co/k8539mTSJo
Buffy was originally portrayed by Kristy Swanson on the big screen in 1992, but achieved ubiquity with seven seasons of the television show starring late nineties it-girl Sarah Michelle Gellar. The show ran from 1997 to 2003, and detailed the struggles of high school student Buffy Summers, who must also answer her calling as a vampire slayer!
Buffy's combination of gymnastic martial arts and good old fashioned wooden stakes would've fit right in with Mortal Kombat X, which included Vampiress Mileena in the Horror Skin DLC Pack. The only thing missing would be Nitara, or another bloodsucker from MK's forgotten horror pantheon.
Would you like to see The Slayer make her way into future Mortal Kombat downloadable content? Share your thoughts in the comments below and join the speculation in the Future Mortal Kombat forum!
It's almost time for another DC FanDome virtual event and a new hype trailer confirms Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon in the all-star line-up! There'll be movie stars, previews, panels, and maybe even a few DC comic books as well! Take a closer look:
Ed Boon and Dominic Cianciolo represented NetherRealm Studios during last year's DC FanDome Injustice panel, discussing the DC Comics fighting game and its 2017 sequel, Injustice 2, as well as the hugely successful comic book tie-in.
This year Boon will have even more to talk about when the October 16th virtual convention occurs just days before the official digital & physical release of the Injustice animated feature!
The cartoon retelling of the dark DC elseworld is sure to be a feature of the con, along with many other stars of DC multimedia properties, who appear with Boon in the alphabetical guest list. Peep page one of the A-B list opposite Batman below, if you missed it.
Could DC FanDome also bring news of the next NetherRealm fighting game project? Rumors concerning a third Injustice are swirling, with a streaming service data breach suggesting a new title was recently in the works. Other sources are telling us not to expect much -- and with no official word, and pandemic conditions changing the way developers work, that's probably the best way to go.
Watch the first Injustice animated trailer to get yourself prepared and share your wishlist & speculation in the comments below! Find and discuss more of all related properties in the DC Universe Injustice forum!
