The 1 Dead Mortal Kombat Character Who Won’t Be Revived Officially Confirmed [Exclusive]

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The recent Mortal Kombat II film has reignited excitement among fans, largely thanks to the return of the iconic tournament and beloved characters. While the possibility of characters overcoming defeat has always existed, the upcoming third movie won’t feature one particular character from the first film, according to screenwriter Jeremy Slater. Mortal Kombat II focuses on Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban, alongside returning favorites like Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Kano (Josh Lawson), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Jade (Tati Gabrielle), and others.

In a recent conversation with ComicBook, actor Michael Slater explained why he wouldn’t revisit the character of Goro. He stated he wasn’t eager to bring back characters that weren’t developed in the way he envisioned, and that he doesn’t see them as essential to the stories he wants to tell. He specifically used Goro as an example, noting that the show has found success with fights between human martial artists, and that audiences don’t seem as engaged by battles against CGI monsters.

What Does This Mean for Mortal Kombat 3?

The video games Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter feature a blend of martial artists and fantastical creatures. However, the filmmaker behind the new Mortal Kombat movies wants to focus on the human fighters. He prefers to avoid using monsters unless they can be realistically portrayed with practical effects – meaning real people performing the fight choreography. The 2021 Mortal Kombat film spent a significant portion of its budget on creating Goro with CGI, but the digital effects didn’t always look convincing during fight scenes with the character Cole Young.

Slater believes focusing on hand-to-hand combat between characters will make the story more engaging and believable. He explained that fights feel more impactful when they’re between real people, and creating characters like Goro, who rely heavily on CGI, can be challenging to make feel authentic.

I’ve been following the buzz about Mortal Kombat III, and apparently, they’re steering clear of overly-CGI’d monsters this time around. Producer Todd Slater has said that bringing back Goro as a practical character – like they did in the original 1995 Mortal Kombat with Tom Woodruff Jr. physically playing him and Kevin Michael Richardson doing the voice – could really work. He feels that having a real person in the suit, going toe-to-toe with skilled martial artists like Joe Taslim (as Sub-Zero) or Max Huang (as Kung Lao), just makes the fight scenes way more engaging and believable.

Fans are responding much better to the latest Mortal Kombat II than they did to the first movie in the series reboot. The new film has an 89% audience score and a 65% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes—both improvements over the 2021 release. After just one weekend in theaters, Mortal Kombat II is also on track to surpass the original film’s total box office earnings, needing only $21 million more to do so.

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2026-05-11 00:43