Mortal Kombat Sets Up A New Sub-Zero As Cole’s Perfect Rival

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat ends with Scorpion and Cole Young defeating Sub-Zero, but a new Sub-Zero could rise in the sequel as Cole’s new rival. The reboot positions Sub-Zero, real name Bi-Han, as the main antagonist, and his vendetta against the Hasashi clan is at the core of the story. Though Bi-Han falls at the end of Mortal Kombat, the movie sets up the return of Sub-Zero – a new Sub-Zero – in Mortal Kombat 2.

In the Mortal Kombat video games, there are two main characters who us the name Sub-Zero. Bi-Han, the original Sub-Zero, appears in the original MK, where he is killed by Scorpion in an act of revenge (as happens in the film). Bi-Han later comes back as the shadow ninja Noob Saibot, even more evil and powerful than he was in life. The mantle of Sub-Zero is adopted by a new character named Kuai Liang, Bi-Han’s younger brother. Kuai Liang is a much more sympathetic and occasionally even heroic character than Bi-Han, and he wears the title of Sub-Zero for the majority of the franchise.

Because of the new Mortal Kombat movie changes the timeline to set Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s original duel hundreds of years in the past, it’s unlikely that Kuai Liang would be Bi-Han’s biological brother. However, the character could still be introduced as a descendant of Bi-Han, just as Cole is a descendant of Scorpion. That would set a two-layered rivalry storyline for future films: Hanzo and Bi-Han continuing to battle out their hatred as Scorpion and Noob Saibot, and Cole and Kuai Liang continuing that rivalry into the present day. Given how Kuai Liang’s story goes in the games, that could eventually set up a conclusion where he and Cole make peace and put the Lin Kuei vendetta to bed for good.

As the franchise newcomer, Cole doesn’t already have an established role in the Mortal Kombat story. That could make him a bit clunky to fit in future films, unless he gets a new storyline that ties in fluidly with that of the games. Giving him a direct rival in Kuai Liang could be the perfect way to do that. It keeps the Scorpion/Sub-Zero storyline central, it brings in a major new character, and it makes Cole important to the overarching narrative beyond the Mortal Kombat tournament.

The Lin Kuei isn’t actually shown in the MK reboot, but given how Sub-Zero talks about them, the clan is likely still active. That could lead to the introduction of several other prominent game characters beyond just Kuai Liang, such as Cyrax, Sektor and Smoke. As the film franchise expands into more of the games’ lore, all these fighters and more are likely additions for the next Mortal Kombat movie.

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Rick Stevenson
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Rick Stevenson is a writer, editor and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s written on TV, film and games for over six years, in addition to assorted stints in bookselling, carpentry, and TV production. Rick studied writing at the College of William & Mary and Oxford University, and can report with some authority that they are both old. He lives and dies for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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