Although he leaked shortly beforehand, someMortal Kombat 11fans have been confused by the addition of Rambo to the DLC line-up. As many are excited for the Sylvester Stallone character, and it seems likely that the pockets of confusion are due to one fact: long-leaked and fan-desired characterAsh Williams fromThe Evil Deadis still M.I.A.. At one point, his inclusion seemed a given and much more likely than Mileena, and instead of the horror character, fans are getting an action character.
However, that’s a simple beauty inMortal Kombat. Guest characters are capable of reflecting and easily fitting into the story, even when they don’t add much to it. The same happened inMortal Kombat X, and it’s clearly in the works forMortal Kombat 11as well.
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Before Mortal Kombat 11
InMortal Kombat X, there was a total number of 4 guest characters:Jason Vorhees, Predator, Alien, and Leatherface. These characters ultimately fit into the game because they were characters from horror franchises. In a world of Revenants, it made perfect sense that Jason Vorhees would face off with Sub-Zero, Predator with Scorpion, Alien with Reptile, and Leatherface with Shinnok. The overall tone ofMortal Kombat Xhad a very horror, slasher vibe to it, and these characters played into that easily.
Moving intoMortal Kombat 11, there’s clearly been more DLC and more post-launch support thanMortal Kombat X. Kombat Pack 2, for example, is riding the coattail ofMK11 Ultimate, and it adds three new characters to the game: Rain,the fan-requested Mileena, and Rambo.
Rambo Joins an Action-Packed MK11 Cast
Yet, it’s worth looking at the guest characters that joined the game prior to Rambo: Terminator T-800, Joker, Spawn, and RoboCop. Practically each character had some involvement for the original actor:Rambo is voiced by Sylvester Stallone, RoboCop is voiced by his original actor Peter Weller, Spawn is voiced by Keith David who voiced him in the animated series, and Arnold Schwarzenneger had a lot of input on the VA for Terminator. Joker stands out, sure, but there’s also been a ton of voices for Joker.
Each of these characters are practically iconic action stars. Terminator, Rambo, and RoboCop are all really buff badasses who have done the impossible in action flicks. Spawn, on the other hand, is indeed a comic book hero, but one who has always fallen into this archetype as well. Once again, Joker stands out, but given thatMKcharactersappear inInjustice, he likely falls into another tradition.
And in looking at the greater context of the story,Mortal Kombat 11is much more intense and action-packed thanMK X. Of course, it’s a fighting game franchise and that has to be considered, but in terms of story and the emphasis on a individual having great power to do the impossible, it fits here more whenLiu Kangascends to Fire God and has to correct the timeline (with help). The story is not as dark necessarily asMortal Kombat X, so it makes sense that horror film guest characters worked there, as much sense as how action-oriented characters work inMortal Kombat 11.
As a result, at least in how the guest characters tie into the overall theme ofMortal Kombat 11, Keanu Reeves' John Wick, Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus (Matrix,if not Reeves' own Neo), and more all seem like good choices ifMK11DLCcontinues on. Thankfully, as much as it is a horror flick as well, there’s a lot of action inThe Evil Dead. Fans of Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams shouldn’t count him out for that, although there has been a lot said about his inclusion inMK11to the contrary.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimatereleases November 17 on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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