Here's Why Mortal Kombat Reboot Didn't Feature The Tournament

There is little doubt that people are loving the Mortal Kombat reboot in all its bloody glory. However, there was one particular thing about the franchise that was sorely missing in the film: the actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Interestingly, director Simon McQuoid has revealed why the highly anticipated tournament was left out of the movie.

It's no secret that the tournament is the most important part of Mortal Kombat. It's the first thing we deal with when we play the game and it's something that is always depicted in the film adaptation. The tournament is even referenced repeatedly in the reboot although we never get to that part because the Earthrealm champions were ambushed by the Outworld warriors.

So why did McQuoid decide against featuring the Mortal Kombat tournament? The filmmaker told GameSpot that he and writer Greg Russo chose to take a different direction with the reboot.

"We didn't want to just do the same the movies again," McQuoid said. "If you look at the way the games evolved, and the storylines within, it's kind of moved away from that as well."

McQuoid continued by stating that they "weren't just recreating [the] original film" nor "recreating the first five years of its existence."

"We had to consider its entire history, coupled with the fact that when you have a tournament structure for a film, it really informs your structure, it becomes a very specific structural element within the script itself," he stated. "And that then informs a rhythm within a film that we didn't really feel like we wanted to be locked into."

The filmmaker concluded by admitting that they "needed to talk about it because it's an essential part of what Mortal Kombat is." However, McQuoid also addressed that the team "didn't want to be locked into it."

The decision certainly makes Mortal Kombat 2021 stand out from the previous movies. In addition to that, it gave viewers a chance to see the video game characters in a different light.

But will we ever get to see the tournament that we were waiting for? There's a good chance that this could be the premise of Mortal Kombat 2. However, it is important to point out that Warner Bros. has not yet announced a sequel for the film. Nevertheless, we're looking forward to the news. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

Mortal Kombat is now screening in theaters and on HBO Max.

Related: Mortal Kombat Star Joe Taslim Pitches Sub-Zero Prequel