Mortal Kombat's co-creator, Ed Boon, teases fans on how Mortal Kombat 1 will feature brand-new origin stories for its characters. Last week, NetherRealm Studios officially revealed the next game the developer would be working on, with a trailer for Mortal Kombat 1. Its existence has been one of the worst-kept secrets of 2023 ever since it was leaked via an earnings call with WB higher-ups. Regardless, this new trailer showed off quite a bit of the game, from its staple over-the-top gory action, to a release date for later this year.
With the game fully revealed, NetherRealm was quick to confirm a lot of details regarding the game. This includes how it is the start of a new universe that was formed following the events of Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath's canon ending, though not strictly a continuation of the DLC's events. In any case, with this game's "New Era" according to Liu Kang, the characters will have completely different roles compared to their counterparts from the previous timeline. This shuffling of roles will obviously affect how certain characters interact, which was commented on by Boon himself.
This was in response to a question on Twitter, where user X-Azeez posits that Mortal Kombat's Mileena was always created by the villainous sorcerer Shang Tsung in previous timelines, which includes the original three games and Mortal Kombat 9. However, it raises the question of who created Mileena if Shang Tsung didn't exist in Liu Kang's new era. Boon was happy to answer that, stating the answer will be revealed in Mortal Kombat 1's story mode.
Boon says that not only will Mileena's new origin be explored in Mortal Kombat 1, but several characters will be getting new backstories if his "lots of origin stuff" statement is to be believed. The game's trailer did tease this as well in some ways, where mortal enemies or rivals, like Scorpion and Sub-Zero, unite as comrades instead of immediately engaging in a fight. This should prove to provide some interesting iterations and dynamics between these classic characters.
Despite Shang Tsung's definitive defeat in MK11 Aftermath, he has returned somehow and threatens the peace of Liu Kang's new era. The roster of fighters includes the regulars like Liu Kang, Raiden, Kitana, Kung Lao, Mileena, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion. However, other MK1 leaks also list characters like Ermac, Quan Chi, and Takeda could also be returning, alongside guests like Peacemaker and Homelander. It will be interesting to see how MK1's story mode will play out, especially with it looking to reintroduce these characters with new origins.
Mortal Kombat 1 launches September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.