After long rumored and anticipated to be in the Mortal Kombat (2021) sequel, Warner Bros. has finally found its Kitana in none other than Adeline Rudolph.
Adeline is an up-and-coming actress, mainly known for her role in the Netflix hit show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Resident Evil. Fans are eager to see her as Kitana as she makes her return to the big screen after 25 years.
Kitana is a well-beloved character in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a fan favorite ever since her characteristic steel fans were spotted in the first reveal trailer of the reboot in 2021. Kitana’s tragic backstory is that of a 10,000 year old princess whose father was murdered by Shao Kahn; her mother, Queen Sindel, forced to be by his side. Kitana is the original heir to the throne of Edenia, her homeland and a realm merged with Outworld by Shao Kahn. Kitana also had a twin sister Mileena who turned out to be a clone.
Intrigued by Kitana’s backstory and appearance, fans who have been around since the original games and 1995 movie have a great fondness for her character and the way she was portrayed by Talisa Soto. She did a tremendous job at selling the grace, beauty and mystery of Kitana’s character, enriching her backstory that later proved to be of grave importance to the games’ lore in future installments (especially in relation to the main protagonist Liu Kang).
Fans were a bit surprised then not to have Kitana present, especially with Mileena being in. Johnny Cage was felt as another big omission. It was all quite a big deal, since a lot was at stake for the revival of the franchise in a medium outside of the video games. There were talks of a new movie going back as early as 2010 when a short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth was released. Its director Kevin Tancharoen signed a deal with WB in 2011 and a movie was supposed to come out in 2013, but unfortunately that never came to fruition.
During that time, Tancharoen also pitched a series which did get picked up and ran for two seasons called Mortal Kombat: Legacy. It was a hit and miss for the most part, but one thing that fans loved and the series managed to do was have Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa reprise his role as Shang Tsung. Unfortunately, much like the first live action series of the franchise, 1998’s Mortal Kombat: Conquest and the original movie’s sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation this project failed to live up to the high expectations that were set by the 1995 movie.
In the same vein, Mortal Kombat (2021) had a rough time for years prior to release, going through various scripts and writers. Unlike the original movies and Conquest series, there was also little to no involvement by its original creator Ed Boon. It should come as no surprise then that while the reboot was the most-streamed new movie of 2021 on HBO Max, it was not well received. Most did enjoy the performances by Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero and Josh Lawson as Kano in particular. Getting the right actors and actresses that fit and look like the characters fans have come to known and love is key to winning over the Mortal Kombat community.
So even with all the critique, most agreed Mortal Kombat (2021) did manage to cast some solid, well-known actors and more importantly a few capable martial artists like Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada and Lewis Tan. With Ed Boon’s stamp of approval for this second movie and the casting of not only Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, but also Karl Urban as Johnny Cage (The Boys, as well as The Lord of the Rings trilogy) this sequel might be well on its way to getting that stamp of approval from the Mortal Kombat community too. One big question remains though, will fan favorite Mileena return and will she be portrayed by Rudolph as well?
Stay tuned for more information about who’s going to be part of the upcoming sequel, currently slated for a late 2024/ early 2025 release. Be sure to join our incredible kommunity by joining our Discord server (partnered with the Netherkast) and following us on our social media accounts, which include Twitter, Instagram, Threads and YouTube
