It takes a lot for me to get excited about fighting games. I enjoy them when I play them, but it’s not something I generally want to play if given a choice. However, I’d be lying if I said Mortal Kombat 1 didn’t have me sitting anxiously on the edge of my seat.
By the looks of it, we are in for a treat because less than 24 hours ago, the brand new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer dropped alongside the exciting reveal that Jean-Claude Van Damme will appear in the game.
Mortal Kombat 1, the latest entry into a 30-year-old fighting franchise, will see players travel back in time, centuries before the events we all know and love from the regular timeline. However, even though the time is different doesn’t mean all the characters are, and players can expect to see Jonny Cage, Raiden, Mileena, Kitana and Kung Lao in the game.
Now If you’re wondering why I, someone who is open about not getting excited about fighting games, no matter how beloved by the rest of the world, am excited about Mortal Kombat 1? It’s because, alongside the game announcement, it was also announced that Jean-Claude Van Damme would be included in the game. This inclusion is happening as a skin for Johnny Cage. And if you’re still wondering why this is such a big deal, it’s because Jean-Claude Van Damme was the original inspiration for Mortal Kombat and Johnny Cage.
In an interview, Mortal Kombat series co-creator Ed Boon said:
“Jean-Claude Van Damme was supposed to be Johnny Cage. We took images of Bloodsport and talked about digitized graphics and how it’s going to be Van Damme in the game. At some point he passed. But we later inquired, maybe a couple of times, as recently as, like, Mortal Kombat 9, if he wanted to be in a skin of the game. For some reason, it just never came through.
The fiction behind Mortal Kombat was kind of already in development even prior to us chatting with Van Damme, and when he ended up not being involved, we just kind of marched ahead. So the idea of his involvement was he was either going to play himself in the game, in the fiction of the game, or he was going to play a character in the fiction of the game. His character is eventually what became Johnny Cage.”
We don’t know how the story of Mortal Kombat 1 will play out or how Johnny Cage will travel hundreds of years into the past, but that’s just more reason to get excited about this upcoming game.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available to preorder today and will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on the 19th of September. Gamers who preorder will also receive access to the games beta event in August.