Reported March 30; Kevin Tancharoen has told Inquisitr he hopes to bring Mortal Kombat: Legacy back to the web for a third series.
The web director announced his departure from the franchise back in October, 2013 [full story]: just one month after the block release of Legacy Series II. He cited new creative opportunities, which have since included another web short for Machinima -The Gable 5; starring Eliza Dushku.
Inquisitr report the director has begun talks with Warner Brothers, and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon: who's been enlisted for ways forward for the series. Acknowledging the sharp drop-off in popularity for the second series, Tancharoen says they "pissed off way too many people" with their cliff hanger ending. He shows optimism for future instalments, even whilst reportedly telling Inquistr the much-discussed movie is likely off the table.
In what will no doubt go down as one of the finest moments in gaming press; NetherRealm Studios head Ed Boon appeared live on the Giant Bomb stream for the final day of the 2014 Game Developers Conference (GDC). The appearance capped off a mammoth five hours of streaming, now available archived on Twitch.tv [embedded below]. Boon appeared opposite what was left of Midway alums: David Lang (Iron Galaxy Studios CEO), John Vignocchi (Disney Interactive Executive Producer), and regular Giant Bomb host Jeff Gerstmann.
He landed in download channels to a chorus of mixed reaction, but it seems no amount of ire could stop Scorpion becoming the highest selling DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us!
The accolade was revealed by Injustice Creative Director Ed Boon, who invited Twitter followers to guess who took the top spot as "highest selling" content [see; Reply].
Once regarded an improbable oddity; the fighting game guest character has become an industry standard. The invasion of outside forces remains a controversial topic for hardcore fans of any series: Mortal Kombat has become a seasoned veteran of the crossover concept, accepting fights at home and abroad.
Kombatants were first establishing their crossover credentials as far back as the nineties. Characters like Sub-Zero and Raiden have lodged appearances in various series, including: NBA Jam, Unreal Tournament and The Grid. Scorpion made the latest Kombat crossover earlier this year, appearing as a Jim Lee designed downloadable guest in NetherRealm Studios' superhero fighter: Injustice: Gods Among Us. The ninja from Hell is expected to be among the pack-in content in November's Ultimate Edition.
In 2011, Mortal Kombat took a turn playing host to two well known guest fighters: Freddy Krueger (DLC) and Kratos (PS3 exclusive).
We've never had the pleasure of meeting Brian Tee in person, but for all intents and purposes, he seems like a real swell guy! Whilst attending San Diego Comic Con for the Mortal Kombat: Legacy II live panel [full story], he helped keep Mortal Kombat Online [@MK_Online] in the loop via Twitter (@Brian_Tee).
Here are some of the snaps he shared live from the event [plus one from Ed]!
With a previously released schedule putting the debut some time in September; Thursday's Mortal Kombat: Legacy II panel was unlikely to reveal all the secrets fans are waiting for. That said, San Diego Comic Con would still deliver plenty of talking points with a general trailer, and special previews.
Legacy Director Kevin Tancharoen headed the Comic Con panel, opposite stars; Brian Tee (Liu Kang), Casper Van Dien (Johnny Cage), Ian Anthony Dale (Scorpion), and Samantha Jo (Kitana). They were joined by Producer Lance Sloane and Machinima Executive VP of Network Programming: Aaron DeBevoise.
The main event was footage featuring a brutal three-way dance between Johnny Cage, Mileena & Kitana. It clearly addressed concerns about the quality of action seen in the first series, but would come with a qualifier almost in contrast to its content.
By all accounts, "fatality" was the word of the day at the SDCC panel, but as Polygon inferred (from their interview with the director), the messages were slightly mixed. Legacy II may be keen to sell you murderous finishing moves taken from the games, but Tancharoen insists that won't come at the cost of storytelling, or a projected Season 3.
Extreme flooding in Chicago's Midwestern suburbs has had an impact on NetherRealm Studios figurehead and Injustice: Gods Among Us Creative Director, Ed Boon. As he tweeted recently, natural disaster was turned to archival gold as the Chicago native uncovered undamaged, classic memorabilia from the early days of Mortal Kombat!
Kevin Tancharoen and members of the cast were live at the 2013 Streamy Awards to present the debut trailer for the Warner Brothers web-first seres: Mortal Kombat Legacy II [watch & discuss]! They stuck around to share a few words - streaming from The Streamys YouTube channel, of course.
Flanked by Casper Van Dien (Johnny Cage), Ian Anthony Dale (Scorpion) & Brian Tee (Liu Kang); the series director discussed developing technologies, the digital medium and how that has fed the development of a Mortal Kombat feature film [more].
Response to the trailer has been wide and supportive. Creative Director and co-creator of the series, Ed Boon, had nice things to say in the lead to the Streamy debut:
Just saw the trailer for Mortal Kombat Legacy 2. Looks fantastic! Kenshi, Liu Kang & Cary Tagawa returns as Shang Tsung! Debuts this Sunday!
— Ed Boon (@noobde) February 15, 2013
It started with a simple, cryptic promise from Creative Director Ed Boon (@noobde), escalated with a live countdown, and concluded with our first look at the Gotham City bruiser - Killer Croc!
Today we learned the next Injustice: Gods Among Us gameplay trailer would be delayed, Bane looks like a badass in concept art, and Dr. Fate could be somewhere in our future...
