Ed Boon is not squeamish about seeing fictional characters face their mortality. As the co-creator of the O.G. Mortal Kombat arcade fighting game from way back in 1992—which he developed alongside John Tobias—Boon plays a direct role in the term “ fatality!” becoming shorthand in nerd-culture for a particularly nasty evisceration or disembowelment. The MK guru in fact gets wistful with the ghost of a smile when recalling the first time he realized that he and Tobias could cause their Scorpion sprite to harpoon his opponents with a rope-dart from the palm, impaling the victim and dragging them off to fates unpleasant.

Still, even Boon could feel his heart racing when he saw what the masterminds behind next summer’s Mortal Kombat II had brewing for the sequel to the 2021 New Line

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