Is Mortal Kombat 1 a Reboot?

Mortal Kombat is back! It’s time to get casual fans up to speed and prepare newcomers for the bonkers lore they’re about to experience. Yes, even though the title hints at a Mortal Kombat reboot and a new beginning — one that would perhaps simplify the story going forward — Mortal Kombat 1 does anything but that.

Mortal Kombat 1 is not a reboot, but there’s a lot to unpack here.

Mortal Kombat 1 seemingly wants to be a “Requel” rather than a reboot. That’s a term coined by the film Scream V that describes a new entry that follows up on a series without providing direct continuation or straight-up erasing the existing timeline. I get that it might feel like too unspecific of a thing, but that’s a good thing. The grey area in which requels operate allows for a combination of nostalgia and experimentation that gets them to shine much brighter than reboots usually do.

Examples of good film requels are the aforementioned Scream V, Halloween (the 2018 reboot, not the others), and Mad Max Fury Road.

The problem with MK1 is that it isn’t a requel, either.

We can easily see the MCU’s influence in NetherRealm Studios’ games. The last we saw of the Mortal Kombat continuity were the events of MK11‘s DLC, Aftermath, which played a lot like Avengers Endgame. That makes sense, as that’s the most successful ensemble story of all time.

What was the big consumer sensation that we got after Endgame? The multiverse craze that began with both the Miles Morales and Peter Parker multiverse Spider-Man films. Naturally, Mortal Kombat‘s already shattered timeline felt like a great place to tell a similar tale.

So what is MK1, really?

It’s actually a sequel spiced up by multiverse elements. Even though it starts in a new timeline that Liu Kang created at the end of MK11 Aftermath, this is the direct continuation of his tale. Also, timelines quickly begin to cross over, and the whole thing culminates in the biggest battle of Mortal Kombat characters ever put to screen. I’m not going to spoil it, but yeah, it’s pretty convoluted — though still very fun to watch.

You can now choose your fighter on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.