It must be Kung Fu week. In order to combat New Line Cinema’s upcoming release for the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat, Disney and Marvel Studios released the first trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. How does it hold up against the intense action of the blockbuster video game franchise brought to life?
In Mortal Kombat, MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Sorcerer Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt him down.
Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earth realm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark.
Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies from Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all? Watch the trailer below:
RELATED: HBO Max orders The Real Magic Mike unscripted series
And of course there’s a kick-ass poster:
Pretty brutal, huh? Which it very well should be. It’s Mortal Kombat. The film is helmed by award-winning Australian commercial filmmaker Simon McQuoid, marking his feature directorial debut, and produced by James Wan, Todd Garner, McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh.
The diverse international cast reflects the global nature of the brand, with talent spanning the worlds of film, television and martial arts.
The ensemble includes Lewis Tan as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson as Kano; Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks as Jax; Ludi Lin as Liu Kang; with Chin Han as Shang Tsung; Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero; and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion. Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao and Sisi Stringer as Mileena.
Mortal Kombat opens this Friday, April 23, in theaters and on HBO Max.
