Karen Strassman possibly not reprising her roles as Kitana / Mileena

[Samsara]

Ugh, I was really worried about this after the Scorpion news. I liked a lot of the MK9/MKX voice talent, but I love Strassman as Kitana/Mileena in particular.

And for people saying talent in these games is mostly immaterial, a) I don't agree, but b) Karen Strassman is one of the top gaming voice actresses out there. This isn't some random person.

I'm wondering if they're punishing people who had to go on strike in 2016-2017.

That's probably it. Punishing them for the strike most likely.

 

[DeftMonk]

OH MY SWEET GURKENS! I forgot about that Rumor of Rhonda being the voice of Sonya. Maaaaan i dunno about that one.

What exactly is a gurkens?

 

[HeavyNorse]

Basically, with video games gaining ground as the big media seller, the Voice Actors Guild wanted to renegotiate contracts to reflect that. Meaning better pay and royalties for proficient roles, kind of what you'd see for film actors. Involved studios said "fuck you, this is all on the programmers we don't pay well either" so it led to a year long strike that ended in 2017. I think there was some animosity too with studios just using Troy Baker and Nolan North for literally everything, or overpaying a celebrity to do the same job.

Anywhos, they were probably in the early planning stages for MK11 at this time, so while I doubt any VA work was done, a lot of the OG actors who were in the VA guild got cut out of their roles because this would have been the period where they were signing on actors. It sucks, but it seems like a lot of these people will be fine. A few IMDB searches suggests they are plenty busy

Thanks for explaining it to me!

First of all... The Voice Actors Guild is an awesome name for their union!
And that explains why Troy Baker was indeed in everything all of a sudden! I like both him and Nolan North though, so I personally didn't mind... I just thought they were the current "it" guys in the industry though.

It does kinda suck that the strike would collide with the development of MK11, but it makes sense now.
Let's hope the VA's in MK11 will do a great job then. ^^

 

[JBeezYBabY]

What exactly is a gurkens?

Its a pickle or pickled cucumber

 

[HellblazerHawkman]

Thanks for explaining it to me!

First of all... The Voice Actors Guild is an awesome name for their union!
And that explains why Troy Baker was indeed in everything all of a sudden! I like both him and Nolan North though, so I personally didn't mind... I just thought they were the current "it" guys in the industry though.

It does kinda suck that the strike would collide with the development of MK11, but it makes sense now.
Let's hope the VA's in MK11 will do a great job then. ^^

That was probably more conjecture on my part, but this kind of paints an interesting picture. Those two dudes were literally getting roles without being told what they were. Devs were even casting actors, they just got a guy who could do lines well and made the game to match https://www.mcvuk.com/development/nolan-north-confirms-participation-in-sagaftra-strike-is-surprised-at-issues

 

[ImperatrixSindel]

@HellblazerHawkman I think the strike was probably over (November 2017) by the time MK11 was ready for voice talent -- and if they do have people like Kevin Conroy tapped, he is certainly a member of SAG-AFTRA.

Injustice 2 is the game that probably was impacted by this strike; note how many old lines of dialogue had to be awkwardly reused for intros with the DLC characters.

I do think it's very possible, though, that WB is salty about the strike and sending a message to the people who went along with it. But it could also just be that they're keen on getting celebrity talent for MK11 as a PR move and are tossing the respected voice actors out, which would be a crying shame but is also becoming more and more common in the voiceover business in general.

 

[HellblazerHawkman]

@HellblazerHawkman I think the strike was probably over (November 2017) by the time MK11 was ready for voice talent -- and if they do have people like Kevin Conroy tapped, he is certainly a member of SAG-AFTRA.

Injustice 2 is the game that probably was impacted by this strike; note how many old lines of dialogue had to be awkwardly reused for intros with the DLC characters.

I do think it's very possible, though, that WB is salty about the strike and sending a message to the people who went along with it. But it could also just be that they're keen on getting celebrity talent for MK11 as a PR move and are tossing the respected voice actors out, which would be a crying shame but is also becoming more and more common in the voiceover business in general.

Is Kevin Conroy actually doing Scorpion, or was that just conjecture? It's not the first time I've seen that mentioned. If that's the case, I could see it just being the celebrity thing then, yeah

 

[Jhonnykiller45]

It'll be unfortunate if she does not indeed return to voice her characters, but it's not that bad. They could cast Grey DeLisle, who did the in-game fight voices for Kitana and Mileena in MKX, for the speaking lines as well. I think she could do a good job.
About the characters' traditional VAs being replaced in favor of "celebrities", I don't think that's something to worry about too much. Sonya may still end up voiced by Rousey (the leak which claims this has been the most credible one so far), though we'll have to see about that. Saying things like Kevin Conroy voicing Scorpion though, that's not going to happen.

 

[Jhonnykiller45]

Is Kevin Conroy actually doing Scorpion, or was that just conjecture? It's not the first time I've seen that mentioned. If that's the case, I could see it just being the celebrity thing then, yeah

No that was just mentioned in one of the "leaks" that followed after the game's reveal. IMDB lists this too but I really don't think that's going to happen, given how poor of a source that website can be.

 

[Roy Arkon]

It'll be unfortunate if she does not indeed return to voice her characters, but it's not that bad. They could cast Grey DeLisle, who did the in-game fight voices for Kitana and Mileena in MKX, for the speaking lines as well. I think she could do a good job.
About the characters' traditional VAs being replaced in favor of "celebrities", I don't think that's something to worry about too much. Sonya may still end up voiced by Rousey (the leak which claims this has been the most credible one so far), though we'll have to see about that. Saying things like Kevin Conroy voicing Scorpion though, that's not going to happen.

Wait so Mileena and Kitana had a second voice actress just for the in-game fights? I thought it was Karen Strassman who did all of the lines for them, I really loved Mileena and Kitana's fight voices in MKX, and it all sounded like Karen as well. That's actually news to me.

So if Grey does come back to do all of the lines, then it should be even more then great.

 

[xenogorgeous]

It's sad this for continuity reasons, but, I'm sure NRS will hire very competent voice actors/actress to do the job ... MK11 will be epic and aggregates high value production quality, including characters voices .... I'm betting we all won't get disapointed with

 

[Jhonnykiller45]

Wait so Mileena and Kitana had a second voice actress just for the in-game fights? I thought it was Karen Strassman who did all of the lines for them, I really loved Mileena and Kitana's fight voices in MKX, and it all sounded like Karen as well. That's actually news to me.

So if Grey does come back to do all of the lines, then it should be even more then great.

Yes she confirmed it on Twitter right after the game's release.

 

[Crimea]

She already was partly replaced in mkx with Grey DeLisle (also catwoman in Injustice 2)

 

[ImperatrixSindel]

Is Kevin Conroy actually doing Scorpion, or was that just conjecture? It's not the first time I've seen that mentioned. If that's the case, I could see it just being the celebrity thing then, yeah

It's just a rumor, but we know the Scorpion voice has been replaced which is weird unless they got a bigger name.

Wait so Mileena and Kitana had a second voice actress just for the in-game fights? I thought it was Karen Strassman who did all of the lines for them, I really loved Mileena and Kitana's fight voices in MKX, and it all sounded like Karen as well. That's actually news to me.

So if Grey does come back to do all of the lines, then it should be even more then great.

Grey just did the screaming and grunting sounds and whatnot, because they couldn't get Karen in for those for whatever reason -- maybe they needed another take and she wasn't available. All the dialogue in and out of battle was Karen.

 

[BecomingDeath13]

All you guys recommending actors to play Sonya and I'm offended that no one has recommended Jane Lynch to play Sonya. Screw rousey and her garbage promos. Jane Lynch could really bring out the bitch in Sonya.

 

[Marinjuana]

TBH though, it's not like the MK story mode has always been a bunch of Gary Oldmans and Tom Hanks's. It's always a bit cheesy, the acting is "ok for videogames", and we enjoy it because it's fun and no other fighting game has a story mode that's even close to this.

We're not picking it apart because it's not Naughty Dog. Ronda would probably be just fine.

I think you aren't giving them the credit they deserve. Some of the performances were really good. And just become something is cheesy doesn't mean that voice actor isn't doing a fantastic job of portraying the character. And while VA's will never be as well regarded as your movie stars, VA's such as Steve Blum and Patrick Seitz are among the best in the business. Kotal Khan isn't the same without Phil Lemarr. Epcar giving a varied Raiden matters. Even a guy like Tom Choi(I looked his name up never heard of him) adding a lot of character to Liu Kang. For Kang we get to have fun with tongue in cheek lines like, "By the Elder Gods!!!" and enjoy the tension of "Then YOU, are my enemy!, because he delivers on the voice lines. Part of the reason that you can even take the story seriously is because of these voice actors give such good performances.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

I think you aren't giving them the credit they deserve. Some of the performances were really good. And just become something is cheesy doesn't mean that voice actor isn't doing a fantastic job of portraying the character. And while VA's will never be as well regarded as your movie stars, VA's such as Steve Blum and Patrick Seitz are among the best in the business.

It's not a slight.. It's just how Mortal Kombat has always been. It's not MK if it's not at least slightly campy.

 

[Marinjuana]

It's not a slight.. It's just how Mortal Kombat has always been. It's not MK if it's not at least slightly campy.

I edited my post to add more meat to it, but the point is that campy ≠ bad. This isn't MK4, they've dramatically improved their voice acting and presentation since then and I'd argue that NRS does a fantastic job with it. MK has not always been like that because it's not like that now. You describe it as being just ok(which sounds like a slight to me) but I think it's very good at this point. I really hope NRS isn't going to negatively affect the quality of their VA's with these casting decisions because it's been such a strong point for them.

 

[FoughtDragon01]

It'll definitely sting if some of the original VAs won't come back for MK11 (Seitz is a god-tier Scorpion and Strassman made me fall in love with Mileena all over again), but as long as the characters are still done justice, I honestly won't mind that much.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

I edited my post to add more meat to it, but the point is that campy ≠ bad. This isn't MK4, they've dramatically improved their voice acting and presentation since then and I'd argue that NRS does a fantastic job with it. MK has not always been like that because it's not like that now. You describe it as being just ok(which sounds like a slight to me) but I think it's very good at this point. I really hope NRS isn't going to negatively affect the quality of their VA's with these casting decisions because it's been such a strong point for them.

I mean it's a series with a flying guy with lighting eyes in a giant straw hat, multiple palette-swap ninjas who look nothing like ninjas, a guy who punches people in the nether regions for fun, and an off-brand parody of Bruce Lee.. It's not meant to take itself too seriously, and that's part of the charm. I'm sure the acting will be fine for the tone of the series.

 

[Gamer68]

I'm 90% sure it's because of the voice actor strike. So far it seems the voices for Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena and potentially Sonya Blade are gone.

Phil LaMarr (Kotal Kahn) and Ashley Burch (Cassie Cage) were apart of the strike. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that Steve Blum (Sub-Zero, Reptile, Bo' Rai Cho) was apart of the strike as well. If they get punished, then we could be losing at least 5 more character voices.

I will note that LaMarr and Blum returned for Injustice 2, so while it may seem like they are not out, it really depends on how their contracts work. I know work on Injustice 2 started before Mortal Kombat X was even out yet which was in 2015. If they started doing voice work for the game mid-2016 then that was actually before the strike happened, which was in October. They definitely got contracts for Injustice 2 before they started the strike, now that the strike is done and over, they may not be back for future projects.

The only thing I can think of to go against this is that Blum did Sub-Zero's voice in Injustice 2 as well, and he was released months after the game's launch. Unless he recorded his lines for Sub-Zero around the same time as Green Lantern (for the base game) -- which I feel is somewhat unlikely -- then he must have returned for additional voices. But again, since he had a contract before he went on strike maybe apart of it was that he was obligated to do more voices in post launch or something, I really don't know. So even then, it's possible he was only able to do Sub-Zero's voice again because of the fact he was able to get the contract before the strike.

We will have to wait and see, but it's not looking good for fans of the original voices. It really sucks for the voice actors involved, but with that being said it doesn't mean that the voices for these characters will be bad or generally not done justice. If it's true that they are getting Ronda Rousey for Sonya Blade, then honestly it's not really a strong way to start things, but here's to hoping that her voice is good and the other actors/actresses they get are as well.

EDIT: Looked it up and it does seem that Steve Blum was apart of the strike. He even had a site for a limited time promoting the strike and going over information detailing what it was all about.

 

[HeavyNorse]

I mean it's a series with a flying guy with lighting eyes in a giant straw hat, multiple palette-swap ninjas who look nothing like ninjas, a guy who punches people in the nether regions for fun, and an off-brand parody of Bruce Lee.. It's not meant to take itself too seriously, and that's part of the charm. I'm sure the acting will be fine for the tone of the series.

Well... yes and no.
Modern MK games sure has its part of campiness and humour, however, because NRS has been praised so much for their focus on cinematic storytelling of the story modes in their games, it's apparent that the stories are being taken more and more seriously for each game. We can discuss whether or not the stories are well-told, that's for another topic - however, the production value becomes higher for each game and people expect a certain quality from NRS when it comes to their story modes.

The MKX comics were highly praised for its story, and the result of that is that the writer of the comics Shawn Kittelsen is now on the team of writers for MK11's story mode script. It's obvious that NRS/WB wants to improve on the quality of the story modes and set a new standard for each game. Whether they've succeeded in doing so, again, is a a whole other topic. But their intention seems to be clear.

 

[DarksydeDash]

This is disappointing..

I thought her Mileena was great but Kitana lacked more of her own.. "personality?" Her voice in MKX wasn't bad, it just sounded too much like Mileena. Which I guess isn't something to complain about since Mileena is her clone so I guess they do need to sound the same / have the same VA?

I guess I'm open to a new voice for Shao Kahn's daughters but it needs to hit the mark. We already lost Scorpion's VA in MK11 who is basically iconic at this point, so I'm hoping whoever voices any of them manages to capture the characters well.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Well... yes and no.
Modern MK games sure has its part of campiness and humour, however, because NRS has been praised so much for their focus on cinematic storytelling of the story modes in their games, it's apparent that the stories are being taken more and more seriously for each game. We can discuss whether or not the stories are well-told, that's for another topic - however, the production value becomes higher for each game and people expect a certain quality from NRS when it comes to their story modes.

The MKX comics were highly praised for its story, and the result of that is that the writer of the comics Shawn Kittelsen is now on the team of writers for MK11's story mode script. It's obvious that NRS/WB wants to improve on the quality of the story modes and set a new standard for each game. Whether they've succeeded in doing so, again, is a a whole other topic. But their intention seems to be clear.

But the production value is upped while still staying true to the tone of the series, which is to never take itself too seriously. If it becomes The Last of Us, it’s no longer Mortal Kombat — and they clearly know that — so there’s always enough ridiculousness in every MK story to keep it campy and fun.

I don’t think this is a bad thing.

 

[HeavyNorse]

But the production value is upped while still staying true to the tone of the series, which is to never take itself too seriously. If it becomes The Last of Us, it’s no longer Mortal Kombat — and they clearly know that — so there’s always enough ridiculousness in every MK story to keep it campy and fun.

I don’t think this is a bad thing.

I don't think it's bad either, however, it does mean that the same heightened standard of quality is expected from the VA's as well. If a VA does a bad job, or even just a mediocre job, there sure will be people who take notice and will bash down the game because of it.

It will overall lower the production value, and I don't think that's within WB's interest.