Mortal Kombat: Legacy is an American web series anthology that debuted on Machinima.com's YouTube channel on April 11, 2011.^[1] The show is an adaptation of the fictional universe of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise. The show's premise originated with director Kevin Tancharoen's short film entitled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, portraying the original game's story in a realistic way, a concept he eventually submitted to Warner Bros. seeking the green-light for production on a re-imagined Mortal Kombat film.^[2] Warner Bros. declined to back the film, despite the attention and positive fan reception,^[3][4] but Tancharoen did receive the go-ahead to shoot the web series.^[5]

Mortal Kombat: Legacy takes place before the events of the original game and tells the background stories of several characters from the franchise, culminating in their reasons for participating in the upcoming tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, on which the first game was based. The episodes in the anthology are non-linear with minimal continuity, and each devoted to the story of a specific character or characters.

Production[link]

Conception[link]

On June 8, 2010, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth surfaced on YouTube amid confusion about its origins and intentions.^[6] Written, directed and edited by Kevin Tancharoen with friends and colleagues donating time, the short film was made without studio involvement on a $7,500 budget, filmed over a weekend, and completed in two months to show Warner Bros. Tancharoen's vision of a re-imagined Mortal Kombat film.^[7] Before submitting it to Warner Bros., he intended to privately upload the short to YouTube to gauge the response of a colleague, but he accidentally made it available to the general public, who quickly voiced an overwhelmingly positive response.^[8]

With the favorable fan reception, Tancharoen met with Warner Bros. executives, who stopped short of green-lighting a motion picture, but agreed to fund a web series based on the Mortal Kombat franchise.^[9] The final step was convincing Ed Boon, co-creator of the franchise and current executive producer at NetherRealm Studios, who just produced the latest video game installment, to agree to the series. Boon was impressed with Mortal Kombat: Rebirth^[10] but not entirely sold on Tancharoen's re-imagined vision.^[11] After he met with Tancharoen, Boon was surprised by his enthusiasm for the franchise and quickly came on board.^[8]

Production[link]

Mortal Kombat: Legacy is produced by Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Premiere. Kevin Tancharoen, Lance Sloane and Tim Carter serve as producers. It consists of nine 8-12 minute episodes, each written by Tancharoen and Spartacus: Blood and Sand writers Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing, with Tancharoen directing. Larnell Stovall, who worked with Tancharoen on Rebirth, is the stunt coordinator. The series was filmed in Vancouver in February and March, with Tancharoen tweeting daily updates of their progress.^[12][13][14] Post-production began in March^[15] and continues alongside release.^[16] Visual effects are being handled by Goldtooth Creative Agency.

When Kevin Tancharoen made Mortal Kombat: Rebirth in 2010, he took the traditional Mortal Kombat story, for 20 years based in a supernatural world, and re-told it based on a real-world scenario. The characters remained, the basic plot of a tournament remained, but most mystical elements like alternate realms, sorcery and the back stories of characters such as Baraka and Reptile were adjusted to fit the realistic universe. This "new take" on the franchise is what prompted Ed Boon to remark that Rebirth "probably crosses the line" in terms of re-imagining.^[17] Warner Bros., however, were receptive to the new style.^[18] For Legacy, Tancharoen teamed up with Boon, Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios and promised fans the web series would be true to the franchise, including the mystical and supernatural elements famous to Mortal Kombat.^[19] The small budget forced some stories to be set in a realistic world to avoid the high costs of creating a fantasy world with visual effects. Of Boon's involvement, Tancharoen said he "was instrumental in this show adhering to the canon of the series" but that he allowed Tancharoen to include his own ideas.^[18]

The first two episodes are based mostly in a true-to-life universe. Episode three follows suit, but ends with the first hint of supernatural themes when Shang Tsung appears to freeze time to converse with Johnny Cage. Episodes 4 and 5 reveal the most in the issue of Tancharoen's stylistic approach to the real-world/mysticism debate. Baraka is portrayed true to his original form from the video games and ideas such as sorcery and multiple realms are fleshed out. Criticism has been leveled at the production team for abandoning the original real-world approach of Rebirth for Legacy, despite Tancharoen continuously stating that the supernatural elements of Mortal Kombat would be included in the series. In an IGN interview on May 16, 2011, Tancharoen explained that some stories could be told in his realistic Rebirth approach but that other stories were too grounded in the supernatural to be converted to real-world.^[18] The release of Episode 6 includes a note from Tancharoen himself, written to the fans before the episode begins: "The following episode represents my different take on the Mortal Kombat universe. I think it combines the perfect amount of gritty realism mixed with a hint of mysticism. I hope you guys enjoy it."

Casting[link]

Michael Jai White, Jeri Ryan, Matt Mullins and Ian Anthony Dale reprise their roles from Mortal Kombat: Rebirth as Jax, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and Scorpion respectively.^[20] Michael Jai White was offered the role of Jax in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat and the 1997 film, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, but accepted the lead part in Spawn instead, being replaced by Lynn "Red" Williams.^[21] Johnson Phan and Fraser Aitcheson replace James Lew and Lateef Crowder to portray Shang Tsung and Baraka respectively. Kano is played by Darren Shahlavi,^[22] Tahmoh Penikett plays Kurtis Stryker and Sam Tjhia plays Kitana.^[23] Episode 4 revealed Aleks Paunovic as Shao Kahn, Jolene Tran as Mileena, Kirby Morrow as King Jerrod and Beatrice Ilg as Sindel. The characters of Sub-Zero (Kevan Ohtsji), Sektor (Peter Shinkoda) and Cyrax (Shane Warren Jones) were revealed in the first official trailer released April 11, 2011.^[24] Ryan Robbins was revealed as Raiden^[25] and Michael Rogers was revealed to be playing Quan Chi in the credits of Episode 7. Ed Boon makes a cameo appearance in Episode 3 about Johnny Cage, playing Ed Goodman, a TV producer who has previously worked with Cage.^[26] His appearance is a reference to the firing of martial artist Daniel Pesina, who was the original digitized actor for Johnny Cage.^{[citation needed]}

On April 9, 2011, Tancharoen revealed to Hadoken.net that both Liu Kang and Kung Lao would appear in a potential second season.^[27] In a May 10, 2011 interview with Tancharoen, Movieweb revealed that Kabal and Goro are also planned for season 2.^[27] Goro's brother, Durak, has been rumored to appear in the series.^[28][29] Stunt coordinator Larnell Stovall also expressed interest in including Kenshi and Nightwolf in the second season.^[30]

Characters[link]

• Michael Jai White as Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs – A Major in the Deacon City police department and Sonya's loyal partner, Jax is investigating the Black Dragon cartel and its leader, Kano, with whom he has a previous history. His arms were severely damaged and experts at the Department of Defense "have a plan".
• Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade – A Lieutenant in the Deacon City police department and Jax's partner, also investigating Kano and the Black Dragon. She too is shown to have a previous antagonistic history with Kano, who killed her previous partner. Sustained injuries when Jax protected her from the explosion in the Black Dragon warehouse.
• Darren Shahlavi as Kano – A known career criminal and head of the Black Dragon crime cartel. He has a prior history with Jax and Sonya, displaying sadistic sexual interest in her and admitting to the murder of her previous partner. Lost his right eye in a fight with Jax and had it replaced with a "red eye", an advanced weapon from stolen Department of Defense robotics parts.
• Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage – A former teen heartthrob from Power Rangers and worldwide A-list action star of the small screen, John Carlton – better known by his stage name Johnny Cage – is a martial arts master. His fame was destroyed by his growing ego, and he now struggles to maintain his career. Encounters Shang Tsung, who entices him with "a way out of everything".
• Samantha Tjhia as Kitana – Former princess of the realm of Edenia and the daughter of King Jerrod and Queen Sindel, Kitana was adopted and raised solely by Shao Kahn after he invaded her realm while she was only a baby. Growing up a loyal assassin for Kahn, she soon learned from her long lost father, King Jerrod, about Edenia's downfall.
• Jolene Tran as Mileena – A half-Edinian half-Tarkatan clone of Kitana, Shao Kahn ordered Shang Tsung to create her so that he could have a daughter to return his love. Trained under Shao Kahn with her sister, Mileena served as his assassin, killing the former Edenian king, Jerrod.
• Ryan Robbins as Raiden - God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm, Raiden descended to the Earth and was incarcerated in a psychiatric institution. With the help of another inmate, Blue, he managed to escape in order to attend the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Ian Anthony Dale as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion – General of the Shirai Ryu clan and famed for his legendary mastery of the kunai. He, his wife, Kana, son, Jubei, and his clan were killed by Quan Chi under the guise of Sub-Zero. Subsequently agreed to fight at the Mortal Kombat tournament on the side of Quan Chi, Shang Tsung and the Netherrealm in exchange for vengeance against Sub-Zero.
• Kevan Ohtsji as Bi Han/Sub-Zero – A ninja for a rival clan of the Shirai Ryu. Impersonated by Quan Chi, who then deceived Scorpion into thinking Sub-Zero killed him, his family and his clan.
• Shane Warren Jones as Cyrax – A loyal ninja assassin for the Lin Kuei clan who initially refuses when he is chosen for automation. He reluctantly undergoes the process and becomes Unit LK 4D4, one of the clan's two most advanced cybernetic ninjas.
• Shane Warren Jones as Hydro – A loyal ninja assassin for the Lin Kuei clan who undergoes the process of automation. Becomes Unit LK 1V1, the clan's early version cybernetic ninja.
• Peter Shinkoda as Sektor – A loyal ninja assassin for the Lin Kuei clan who willingly accepts the process of automation as his duty to the clan he loves. Becomes Unit LK 9T9, one of the two most advanced cybernetic ninjas for the clan
• Tahmoh Penikett as Lieutenant Kurtis Stryker – A Lieutenant in the Deacon City police department, his instinct is to follow police procedure, but like Sonya and Jax, will break protocol to complete his mission.
• Johnson Phan as Shang Tsung – A mysterious figure serving Outworld Emperor, Shao Kahn. A skilled sorcerer, he cloned Mileena from Kitana's blood, offered Johnny Cage a secret deal, and worked surreptitiously with Quan Chi to trick Scorpion into fighting on the side of the Netherrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Aleks Paunovic as Shao Kahn – Emperor of the Outworld realm, Shao Kahn ordered an invasion of Edenia, merging the realm with his own, marrying its queen, Sindel, and adopting her daughter, Princess Kitana. Ordered Shang Tsung to clone Kitana and raised both as his twin daughters, personally training them in the art of combat. Has plans to invade and merge Earth with Outworld.
• Beatrice Ilg as Queen Sindel – The former queen of the realm of Edenia, wife of King Jerrod and mother of Princess Kitana. Fearing Shao Kahn would corrupt her daughter, Sindel took her own life shortly after Kahn took power to merge her soul with Kitana's.
• Fraser Aitcheson as Baraka – General of Outworld's Tarkatan warriors, Baraka led an invasion of Edenia under the orders of Outworld Emperor, Shao Kahn.
• Kirby Morrow as King Jerrod – Former King of Edenia, father to Kitana and husband to Sindel. Ran away as Baraka's soldiers stormed his castle. Killed years later by his daughter Kitana's twin sister Mileena after revealing to Kitana her true parentage.
• Michael Rogers as Quan Chi – A sorcerer allied to Shang Tsung on the side of the Netherrealm. Impersonates Sub-Zero and kills Scorpion, Scorpion's family and the Shirai Ryu. He then offers Scorpion life and a chance to enact a false revenge against Sub-Zero in exchange for allegiance at the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament.