Review
For nearly 33 years, Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios have continuously introduced new fighters from across the six realms and several alternate universes in the Mortal Kombat franchise. From the mystical ninjas Scorpion and Sub-Zero to the more monstrous Dragon King Onaga, Mortal Kombat is filled with a variety of fighters unique to its universe and lore.
However, many of Mortal Kombat’s creators and developers have long sought to have their fighters combat famous characters from popular films, comics, television shows, and even other games. These sorts of crossovers never appeared until the end of Midway but flourished under NetherRealm with the introduction of guest fighters that have debuted in every single subsequent mainline Mortal Kombat title.
The Origins and Expansion of Mortal Kombat’s Guest Fighters
Despite being one of the most popular fighting game franchises, Mortal Kombat never officially crossed over with another franchise until 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Midway and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment produced Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to generate revenue to compensate for low Midway game sales, challenge Capcom’s ever-popular Marvel vs. Capcom series, and introduce a younger generation to the Mortal Kombat series. While Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe sold well and received mostly favorable reviews, the company was purchased by Warner Bros. after filing for bankruptcy in 2009. Thereafter, Mortal Kombat’s history of crossing over with other popular franchises was just beginning.
In 2011’s Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm officially debuted their first official guest characters in the form of God of War’s Kratos and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger. Both of these fighters were sold as DLC for owners of Mortal Kombat but later became available in 2012’s Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition alongside all other DLC fighters and content, though Kratos was only available for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.
Both Kratos and Freddy were reprised by their original actors, Terrence C. Carson and Robert England, but Freddy was modeled after Jackie Earle Haley’s version of the character from the 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Kratos and Freddy both additionally featured unique Tower endings, explaining how they appeared and brought destruction to the Mortal Kombat universe.
Mortal Kombat Guest Fighters in the Eighth and Ninth Console Generations
ing the popularity of Kratos and Freddy’s inclusion in 2011’s Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm would go on to introduce several guest fighters from other franchises in every subsequent mainline Mortal Kombat entry. However, no guest character was ever made exclusive to a specific console or platform again.
Most of these guest fighters were voiced by popular actors who previously depicted them in other media, featured similar sound effects to their film or television counterparts, and, more often than not, were based on classic ’80s action films or horror movies. These guest fighters in Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, and Mortal Kombat 1 include:
- Alien
- Conan the Barbarian
- Ghostface
- Homelander
- Jason Voorhees
- Joker
- John Rambo
- Leatherface
- Omni-Man
- Peacemaker
- Predator
- RoboCop
- Spawn
- T-1000
- The Terminator
Potential New Guest Fighters in Future Mortal Kombat Games
With Mortal Kombat 1’s T-1000 being the latest guest and overall DLC fighter introduced, it’s currently unknown if NetherRealm will release any more DLC fighters or Kameo fighters in the game. Rumors have suggested that a planned Kombat Pack 3 was canceled due to low sales of Mortal Kombat 1 and its previous DLC, but there’s still potential for NetherRealm and Warner Bros. to release new fighters starting in late 2025.
Both prior Kombat Packs started releasing fighters about a year apart from one another, so NetherRealm could possibly release a third Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack to coincide with the debut of the Mortal Kombat 2 film in October. This potential new DLC could help incentivize players to return to Mortal Kombat 1.
Regardless of whether Mortal Kombat 1 will feature more DLC fighters or not, fans can still speculate on which guest fighter may appear next in the Mortal Kombat franchise. These could be characters previously considered but were ultimately cut for various reasons, such as The Walking Dead’s Michonne, Halloween’s Michael Myers, The Matrix’s Neo, Gears of War’s Marcus Fenix, and John Wick‘s titular assassin.
The Terminator was originally considered for Mortal Kombat X, for instance, so there is precedent for prior guest character suggestions to appear in later games. Based on NetherRealm’s tendency to include stars of horror or action franchises, the next Mortal Kombat game could include characters like Myers and Wick, as well as possibly Terrifier’s Art the Clown, Die Hard’s John McClane, or even Hellraiser’s Pinhead due to their popularity.
