Despite a lackluster reception, Mortal Kombat 2's Cole Young can use Scorpion to fix his problems from the first movie. Following Mortal Kombat 2021's record-breaking streaming performance on HBO Max, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. have officially announced that Mortal Kombat 2 is in the production pipeline. While much of Mortal Kombat 2's plot remains shrouded in mystery, the reboot sequel is confirmed to be focussing on the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament and will almost certainly bring back Earthrealm's current champions in Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin).

Created specifically for Mortal Kombat 2021, the character of Cole Young serves as the audiences' viewpoint throughout the film as he gets to grips with the stakes of Mortal Kombat's new world. Yet despite Lewis Tan approaching his character's part with gusto, Mortal Kombat 2021 audiences did not look favorably on Cole, who felt shoehorned into the HBO production. The majority of audiences' ire for Cole Young further stems from his lack of character depth, with Cole's limited interactions with his fellow combatants feeling hollow despite the fate of Earthrealm in play.

Related: How & Why Scorpion Can Return In Mortal Kombat 2

Yet Mortal Kombat 2 can go a long way to fixing the first movie's Cole Young problem by expanding on his Scorpion lineage. Cole's tie-in with the Mortal Kombat lore is his status as a descendant of Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), with Cole finally unlocking his Arcana and summoning Scorpion near the end of Mortal Kombat 2021. Cole, therefore, is already set up for a better character arc in Mortal Kombat 2, with the sequel primed to fix his distinct lack of character traits from the first film.

Mortal Kombat Cole Young Arcana Gold Armor

One of the fundamental issues regarding Cole Young's character is how bland he feels compared to the classic Mortal Kombat entities around him in Mortal Kombat 2021. Cole, despite his family's lives on the line, appears largely uninterested in proceedings, while characters such as Josh Lawson's Kano conversely steal the show despite having arguably far less to fight for. Cole's Arcana is also underwhelming in comparison with his Earthworld brethren, with his woven armor and Tonfas not carrying the gravitas of Jax's new arms or Sonya's energy blasts.

All is not lost for Cole Young in Mortal Kombat 2, however, with his Scorpion ancestry a narrative thread that can still be followed to great effect. Scorpion and Cole's tag-team efforts against Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) represent one of Mortal Kombat 2021's best fight sequences, while the Hanzo Hasashi lore adds texture and depth to an otherwise linear narrative. In this way, Mortal Kombat 2 can tap into the scintillating prospect of further exploring Scorpion and Cole's connection between Earthrealm and the afterlife while also providing Cole's character with additional impetus beyond his familial motivations and stalled career as a fighter.

As a result, Mortal Kombat 2 contains ample potential for Cole to grow into a better-appreciated character for the franchise, provided Jeremy Slater and the Mortal Kombat 2 writing team put in the work to make him a multi-dimensional and far more compelling proposition. This fleshing out of Cole Young's character via Scorpion will be key to making Mortal Kombat 2 successful, with Cole remaining at the center of the story's attention and vastly improving his motivations and skillset from the first movie.

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