You don’t make a sequel to Mortal Kombat without a few key things. One is bringing in a ton of characters that weren’t in the first movie. And two, make sure those characters are as recognizable from the games as possible. Director Simon McQuoid has done both of those things with Mortal Kombat II, in theaters October 24, and he recently pulled the curtain back on one fan-favorite character in particular.
Noob Saibot, named after the creators of the original game, Ed Boon and John Tobias, has been part of the Mortal Kombat franchise since the second game. He’s got a rich history and is often portrayed as the shadowy reincarnation of Bi-Han, the first Sub-Zero. Bi-Han was killed in the first film and, as teased in the film’s trailer, has been resurrected in one form or another as Noob Saibot. But Noob isn’t a normal fighter. He’s got new powers to replace Sub-Zero’s icy moves, including a shadow clone version that can fight alongside him, and figuring out how to bring those things to the screen practically was of paramount importance to McQuoid.
“To translate his distinctive ‘shadow wraith’ look onto film, we drew most of our inspiration from the recent version of the game,” McQuaid told Collider. “Cappi [Ireland, costume designer] had the brilliant idea of creating unique materials and finishes that would reflect the light while always being true to Bi-Han’s singular idea of being a shadow. His body was made of low-gloss textured black rubber under-skin, while his armor was organic in style and featured a dark grey pearlescent reflective finish. The shadow clone within him is a different character, so we needed a different costume and color, but they shared materials, ensuring his unique look was clearly separated from his shadow clone while always being born from the same character.”
The director also said that, even beyond making the shadowy figure look as real as possible, one other piece was exceedingly difficult. “The most challenging aspect of his design was his long-sided hat, which can defy physics in the game but can’t in reality,” McQuaid said. “Cappi and her team spent a lot of time creating a design that hung elegantly but also looked awesome at the same time.”
From the little we see in the first trailer, it’s clear that those intentions were achieved. And that Scorpion makes quick work of the shadow clone. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to see what happens beyond that. Mortal Kombat II opens on October 4.
