It's especially noticeable with them.

It's his "Black Lantern" costume from the Blackest Night storyline in the comics.
Black Lanterns are zombies.

Ever played Tekken or Soul Calibur?

It might be more of a sticking point because rival games tend to apply reused assets with more conceptual reasoning. They maintain their characters as more iconic and consistent, sharing reused assets based on common conceptual ground. MK fans have been conditioned to expect (and even like) the opposite; an arbitrary shuffle of details, with only the surface consistent in each iteration.

Fair enough, but I personally think a lof these guys are going to be in a world of hurt when MK10 comes around. NRS has FINALLY caught up to the competition. There's no need to start over again. Sure they'll be new moves and mechanics added, but I don't see a complete overhaul happening.

Good. Thank God because that's annoying.