The only reference to MK21 that I want to see is Kabal saying, "He's gettin' his soul sucked."
Is MK21 a masterpiece in any way? Nope. But what I do see it as is mostly a remake of MK Annihilation. You have the heroes wandering a desert wasteland to meet the mystical character(s) who'll help them on their journey. The villains have tattooes that leave their body upon defeat and are defying the elder gods to cheat the tournament rules. And compared to MKA, its version of basically the same story belongs in the Smithsonian.
I love this. Love to see the movie getting acknowledged in any way tbh. I rewatched it recently with my nephew & had so much fun. (He's a little MK fan in the making. I had never seen the kid get more hype than when he watched Cole fight Goro & the Scorpion & Sub-Zero fight at the end had him geeking cuz he plays as Scorpion in MK11)
Also, I got a lot of MK21 vibes from the trailer in general, especially with Shang Tsung & Raiden.
Hope this leads to MK21 skins (maybe even with the actor's likenesses / voices?)
That's awesome, love it!
Totally agree. It was a ridiculously wasted opportunity with MK11 to not have MK21 movie skins in the game, but if the new game has references/movies/skins I'll totally forgive them, especially if the sequel is on the horizon. Loved Kano, Shang brought the Shaw Brothers vibes, Mileena was absolutely (disturbingly) gorgeous, Sub Zero looked amazing, Sonya was everything MK11's flat rendition wasn't, and sure Cole was meh, Goro was a jobber, Scorpion was under utilised and Raiden was a bit flat, but for me the good moments outweighed the bad and it was a million times the movie Annihilation wasn't. The beautiful Nitara having her head sawed in half followed by Kung Lao having his soul sucked was devilishly fun Mortal Kombat monstrous nonsense (in the best possible way) and am thoroughly looking forward to the sequel and hope the next game capitalises on cross-media marketting. Hopefully even some animated WB movie skins added to the selection too. I just love the franchise existing in one big messy universe, warts and all, I don't like things that certain fans may love being discarded and relegated to the 'non-canon' bin, like Conquest, Legacy, Defenders of the Realm, Annihilation, Defenders of the Realm, Federation of Martial Arts, MK21, the WB animated movies, The Journey Begins etc. etc.
All offer something to the narrative, especially when the games aren't even remotely consistent themselves, so I just want them to embrace all the wacky and wonderful moments the series has given us over the years and not treat some instalments like they don't exist. Some fans love Annihilation, some love the MKM FMV, MK11 acknowledges MK95 and The Journey Begins, Conquest created the Lin Kuei logo and Zaterra, etc. etc., so let's just embrace the fanbase for all the things the different media instalments have brought to the franchise, because Mortal Kombat has never been consistent, so I just love it when it embraces all aspects of the fanbase, so that we can all be united in our love of the franchise.