Taking place 25 years after the events of Mortal Kombat (2011), the new generation of characters will discover that Outworld is not the only threat they face. Fans will get a first look at the newest fighters to join Cassie Cage, including Jacqueline Briggs, daughter of Jax, Takashi Takeda, son of Kenshi, and Kung Jin, descendant of Kung Lao.

Mezco Toyz impressed in New York late last year with the unveiling of their new Mortal Kombat X action figures [full story]. The toymaker shined, showing exactly what they could bring to a new era of MK collectibles. They were back in NYC this weekend for Toy Fair, where Figures.com reported a massively expanded line.

Digital readers of the Mortal Kombat X comic book will have been within their rights to have many questions regarding details glanced since Chapter One. Designed to tell the story between Mortal Kombat (2011) to the April 14 release - many key points have remained unelaborated upon, left to vague references.

MK Online Kommunity User Shadaloo has shared a recap page found in print versions of Mortal Kombat X #2, which details some of the missing the pieces. The following transcript contains SPOILERS. Read on at your own risk.

Even after defeating the evil Shao Kahn, humanity was not safe.

A fallen Elder God named Shinnok rose to lead the undead armies of Netherrealm against us in a war that nearly destroyed Earthrealm. Nearly.

Against all odds, Raiden and his champions prevailed. Shinnok was imprisoned and his undead army was driven back to Netherrealm - except for a fortunate few, miraculously restored to life, and granted the opportunity to set things right...

Previously in Mortal Kombat X:

Given a second chance at life, Hanzo Hasashi aka "Scorpion" reformed the Shirai Ryu clan and took in Takeda, son of the swordsman Kenshi, as his latest apprentice. But after a demon posessed one of Hanzo's students via an ancient dagger and massacred the rest of his clan, Scorpion vowed to finish the being who had originally given him the dagger - Raiden!

Meanwhile...

After Emperor Shao Kahn's death, his sole heir Mileena claimed the throne of Outworld. As the war between Earthrealm and Netherrealm threatened to spread to Outworld, Empress Mileena refused to coordinate a defense effort, ignoring the pleas of her War Chief, Kotal. Finally, after a great battle, Mileena was overthrown. Those who sided with the would-be Empress became enemies of the new Emperor, now calling himself Kotal Kahn.

And thus the Outworld Civil War began...

Cast list:

Hanzo Hasashi AKA Scorpion: Grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu. Former Netherrealm agent.
Kenshi: Special Forces agent. Absentee father.
Raiden: God of Thunder. Protector of Earthrealm.
Sonya Blade: Commander of Earthrealm Strategic Defense.
Jacqui Briggs; Daughter of Jackson "Jax" Briggs.
Cassie Cage: Daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade.
Erron Black: A mysterious mercenary living in Outworld.
D'Vorah: First minister to Kotal Kahn.
Kotal Kahn: Emperor of Outworld. Osh-Tekk warrior.

The review cycle has drifted back from the current digital releases, but be warned: the following article contains spoilers!

Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties continues with Chapter 4 - the first section of print issue #2, and Part 1 of digital story arc "Caged". Make sure you follow links to buy the chapter from DC Entertainment before you continue!

Continuation is a topic very much in mind at the open of Chapter 4. If you read Chapter 3 [review], you know Raiden is dabbling in dangerous Kamidogu blood magik. If you know that, the reminder at the start of this chapter will probably seem continually ominous, but fairly unnecessary. We've spent a lot of time navel gazing over the virtues and foibles of digital versus print - this little curio makes you wonder how it'll read once collected for trade.

It's a lot of fun to see Fujin in action - even if it's just taking a gut wound from a protector god with a pretty sketchy record since the 2011 story reboot. The take away from this B-plot overlap is that big things are coming, but the real meat of this issue delivers us to two of the debuting Mortal Kombat X characters: Cassie Cage and Kotal Kahn.

Graphic designer cum sports fanatic ak47_studios has been mashing together logos from the top NBA franchises and their iconic video game counterparts. Viral sharing hub Aplus.com has 12 of their favourites, but it's the Oklahoma City Thunder logo that we're interested in:

IGN have the first look at the next instalment of DC Comics' digital series Mortal Kombat X! Chapter 4 officially hit digital platforms yesterday (Sunday), kicking off the next sequence of three that make up Issue #2 [solicitation]!

NetherRealm Studios are back in the 'rasslin business! The developer released the free fighting app WWE Immortals earlier this month - just in time for the annual Royal Rumble! We think it's such a swell game, we're celebrating with our own take on the WWE classic - and we need you to make it work!

We'll be asking "Who's Next?" when 30 Kombatants are drawn randomly at regular intervals to enter the first ever Mortal Kombat: Royal Rumble!

It will all go down tomorrow (Sunday) - with the Fan Koliseum deciding characters' fates by voting for eliminations on the forum, and boosting their chances via Twitter! Better still, every participating fan will go into the draw to win themselves a limited edition Mortal Kombat kollectible pin! Here's what you need to know:

Mortal Kombat - Royal Rumble Rules:
• 30 Kombatants will be drawn randomly to enter at regular intervals.
• The MK Royal Rumble will begin when #1 & #2 are announced.
• Each entrant will be announced via @MK_Online & the forum.
• Kombatants begin with 12 elimination points.
• For every 5 Retweets & 10 Favorites a Twitter entrance receives - the corresponding character will gain +1 elimination points. [Tallied during each subsequent entrance.]
• Fans will vote to eliminate active characters by posting to the forum.
• An elimination occurs when the voting tally exceeds a characters points total.
• Fans can vote for an elimination once per entrance: Points will remain subtracted, but a new entrance will grant users the right to vote again for any character they decide.
• Eliminations will give points to randomly assigned eliminators.
• There must always be at least 1 kombatant active.
• Kombatants remaining after the 30th entrant will be systematically eliminated based on their points and the total Retweet & Favorites received.
• In the tradition of the Royal Rumble - expect surprises! The 30 entrants will be drawn randomly from a total field of 85 characters!
• Prize winners will be notified within 48 hours.

He has watched over the Mortal Kombat tournament since it began - now the thunder god Raiden will join the battle on your shelf thanks to Pop Culture Shock Collectibes!

Lord Raiden is the latest addition to the Mortal Kombat Klassics statue line, recreating his fondly remembered Mortal Kombat II digitized design in deadly detail! Pre-orders begin January 19 (Monday), with standard and PCS exclusives to ship Q4, 2015!

Raiden is asking the question many fans have been thinking in a new, sub-titled screenshot featuring latest returning kombatant Kung Lao! It's the second screenshot released to the web, fuelling the mystery of how he survived a fatal neck fracture in the previous game.

Mezco Toys will usher in a new era for action figures starting with the release of the first wave of Mortal Kombat X toys! The initial line-up of Scorpion, Sub-Zero & Raiden was revealed at New York Comic Con [full story], and are now available for pre-order ahead of a May, 2015 release!