[Update: While we're talking Mortal Kombat mysteries, who are the two female combatants in this new image???]

When director Kevin Tancharoen let-loose a viral YouTube short film highlighting his vision for a Mortal Kombat reboot movie, the response from fans was overwhelmingly positive. It wasn't long before the filmmaker was signed by Warner Bros. to helm a Mortal Kombat franchise web series - with a strong possibility for a feature film to follow.

Just last week, fans got a first look at Tancharoen's interpretation of ninja/assassin Scorpion and late last night, the director Tweeted out a photo of what appears to be fan-favorite Shao Kahn mercenary, Baraka.

As fans of the series know Baraka first appeared in Mortal Kombat II and quickly became an iconic franchise character - due to his brutal moves list and creepy appearance. In the mythos, the character is the leader of the Tarkatan horde - a series of mutant mercenaries who work for Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn. While some characters in the Mortal Kombat universe waffle between the forces of good and evil - Baraka has universally aligned himself with one series antagonist after another.

Check out the potential Baraka first-look image below:

baraka mortal kombat web series

It's unclear, assuming the photograph is of Baraka (not just a fellow Tarkatan brother), whether the interpretation of the character in the web series will be closer to the video-game or Tancharoen's redesigned concept in the Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short film - which featured Baraka as a crazed plastic surgeon turned serial killer, Dr. Alan Zane, who mutilated his face and attached blades to his forearms.

If the image is of the actual Baraka character, it would appear that Tancharoen has toned down some of the more imaginative liberties in Rebirth, consider this version of Baraka sports the traditional looking arm blades - not the segmented ones Dr. Zane surgically implants in the proof-of-concept short film. That said, the Baraka-like figure in the image is still missing one iconic element from the traditional Mortal Kombat mythos - the elongated, and grotesque, Tarkatan teeth featured on both Baraka and half-human clone Mileena.

baraka mortal kombat rebirth

UPDATE: Who are the two female combatants in this latest photo? Could we be seeing the famous Milleena vs. Kitana rivalry?

Mileena and Kitana in Mortal Kombat Legacy

Given what appears to be a turn toward a more traditional, and less real-world, interpretation, it'll be interesting to see whether Tancharoen's other ideas - including Reptile as a 30 year-old cannibal with Harlequin Ichthyosis (not a Raptor warrior) - make it into the web series.

Keep checking back for our continued coverage of the Mortal Kombat web series here at Screen Rant - as well as our sister site, Game Rant for information on the highly-anticipated upcoming Mortal Kombat video game.

Follow us on Twitter @benkendrick and @screenrant and let us know what you think of Tancharoen's Baraka design.

Mortal Kombat is currently shooting in Vancouver and is expected to premier in April.

Source: Kevin Tancharoen