NetherRealm Studios Project Lead Ed Boon is tweeting down to something in June. The cryptic countdown hit 24 today, and it's got Gameinformer feeling just a little self-conscious.

Edit (Apr. 2): If you read it elsewhere, you might have been fooled, but if you were here on Mortal Kombat Online, you clearly knew it was all part of our annual April Fools tradition! We played this for the long game, but even with a genuine tweet from Ed Boon -- you couldn't be fooled! You guys are just too good! This article and the material within it was a complete fabrication. You can spew disdain for our juvenile behaviour on the forum, or come down from the high with a calming art tribute to Mortal Kombat's greatest hoax: Ermac! See you next year!

Well, it looks like the "others" have it! Since revealing his work on an unspecified Mortal Kombat in an interview with IGN [full story}; Kiefer Sutherland (24: Live Another Day, Pompeii) has been the absent subject of much speculation.

With expectations reasonably targeted at an anticipated sequel to 2011's Mortal Kombat -- the prime suspects for his unknown role revolved around new additions to the reboot line-up. Mortal Kombat Online Users voted MK4 big bad Shinnok as the most likely casting, but in response to our Kommunity Kountdown article, the star re-emerged briefly to clarify:

When 24: Live Another Day star Kiefer Sutherland told IGN he'd completed work on a mystery Mortal Kombat game [original story] -- Mortal Kombat Online turned to the MKOmmunity to narrow down which character he might be!

2011's reboot Mortal Kombat set the story in motion for a return to the plot of Mortal Kombat 4 - and it was there we looked for prime suspects. Our User Poll narrowed in on characters who didn't have a prominent voice-actor in the most recent game, and might find their way into an all new, shuffled cast.

It should be noted: We don't know what the unspecified game is, or any of the characters who will appear in it! This was merely an educated guess based on the likelihood of a sequel -- supported in part by the already over-active rumor mill.

Rumors of an anticipated Mortal Kombat sequel have been circling for quite some time, but IGN may have cracked the first concrete confirmation of the game's current production.

Kiefer Sutherland has reportedly made reference to completing voice work for Mortal Kombat during an interview about his role in the latest Metal Gear Solid [V: The Phantom Pain].

Comparing the parts, the 24 star told IGN, "I did Mortal Kombat, and that's such a huge game, but it’s so not like [MGS5]." Elaborating, Sutherland said he completed his Kombat role "... pretty quickly..." -- a contrast to working on Metal Gear Solid.

With Metal Gear's propensity for ambitious, spiralling character content, the recently reported 2 hour campaign mode may not indicate an accurate scope of contrast between the two roles. Which begs the question -- if Sutherland is speaking of a new game, what role will he take?

2011's franchise reboot took the Mortal Kombat plot back to the original "Trilogy" franchise, leading most speculation to a similar pseudo-remake of 1997's Mortal Kombat 4. The plot of that game revolved around the return of fallen Elder God Shinnok, whose evil had allowed him to rule the Netherrealm. Could the sometimes sinister Sutherland be the voice of MK's devil? Join the speculation on the forums.