Mortal Kombat 2 will probably include a tournament, but Mortal Kombat (2021) ruined all the power of the saga. Many surprise, the Mortal Kombat reboot decided to skip the tournament despite telling a traditional Mortal Kombat origin story. Still, thanks to Shang Tsung’s attempt to finish the tournament before it started, Mortal Kombat featured several battles, one of which made the franchise’s power levels a lot more complicated. By the end of Mortal KombatShang Tsung decides to attack each of Earthrealm’s champions individually by pairing them with the Outworld champions, resulting in a “preparatory Mortal Kombat”.
One of the most important, highest stakes battles in Mortal KombatThe “preparatory tournament” was Goro vs. Cole Young. Goro was sent to kill Cole Young’s family, which Cole prevented from beating and killing Goro. The problem is that Goro is one of the most powerful characters in the Mortal Kombat universe, someone who has won the Mortal Kombat tournament nine times in a row in the Mortal Kombat lore. Since Cole Young can beat Goro relatively easily in the first film, there isn’t much room for Cole to improve as a fighter. Any struggles Cole has now, except against Shao Kahn or Shang Tsung, will therefore feel like a regression to the character.
Cole Young Killing Goro in Mortal Kombat Was a Mistake
Goro’s death in Mortal Kombat was a mistake for many reasons. Promised, Mortal Kombat (1995) also saw Goro defeated by a human, Johnny Cage, but the fight took place towards the end of the tournament. A Mortal Kombat competition isn’t complete without Goro, an absence that limits the potential Mortal Kombat 2 tournament. As one of the strongest Mortal Kombat characters, Goro should have been saved for a more important fight in Mortal Kombat 2especially because Mortal Kombat skipped the tournament. An expanded role for Goro in the Mortal Kombat reboot franchise would have made up for it Mortal Kombat (1995)’s mistake, and it would have made this new Mortal Kombat iteration more accurate for the games.
Goro’s death was just one of Mortal Kombat’s Cole Young problems
Cole Young went on to beat Goro so easily Mortal Kombat‘s divisive creative decisions regarding the main character. Instead of focusing on classic Mortal Kombat characters like Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, the latter of which wasn’t even in the movie, Mortal Kombat had an original character as the main character. Cole Young had recently found out about Mortal Kombat, magic and the existence of other worlds, but he was able to fight both Goro and Sub-Zero without any major problems. The underdog fighter beating a stronger opponent is nothing new for Mortal Kombatbut the fight between Goro and Cole Young would have made more sense if it had happened later in the story, like in Mortal Kombat 2potential tournament.
Despite the great visual effects, Mortal Kombat‘s Goro was a huge missed opportunity. With the Mortal Kombat tournament yet to take place, the 2021 film should have saved Goro for the sequel. That would have allowed Mortal Kombat 2 to follow the games and have Goro as one of the toughest opponents to have a future Mortal Kombat champion could face. Instead of, Mortal Kombat made it hard to understand the franchise’s power levels essentially dooming its potential Mortal Kombat 2 tournament. With Cole Young beating Goro easily in Mortal Kombatit is safe to assume that Cole will win the tournament, or at least reach the final.
