Mortal Kombat 2021 is loaded with Easter eggs, including one off-handed line spoken by Jax to Cole Young early on in the film that references the game’s original creators. The Mortal Kombat franchise, both on the small and the big screen, has a long history of references that break the fourth wall. One of these knowing nods comes early on in Simon McQuoid’s film, when Jax first meets protagonist and series newcomer Cole Young and casually mentions his defeat of a fighter named Eddie Tobias.
While the lore of Mortal Kombat contains countless characters, Eddie Tobias does not exist in the games, but rather is a mash-up of the names Ed Boon and John Tobias, who created the first Mortal Kombat game back in 1992. For years, Boon and Tobias have made a habit of inserting references to themselves and other various crew members in the games, and later, the various multimedia adaptations. Scorpion’s signature “Toasty!” fatality, for example, is typically accompanied by the voice and face of composer and sound designer Dan Forden.
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Most notably, however, fans of the series will recognize the name Noob Saibot, who began as a hidden character in the games and has since become one of the most complex, fully fleshed members of the Mortal Kombat canon. A closer inspection will reveal that the character’s name is simply a combination of the creators’ last names, Boon and Tobias, spelled backwards. Nods like this show that the fingerprints of Ed Boon and John Tobias have been all over the series since the very beginning, all the way down to Boon voicing Scorpion's iconic "Get over here!"
References to the crew and creators of the series aren’t just self-serving pats on the back, but an admiration and appreciation for those who brought this beloved series to life. After nearly 30 years of the series’ signature blood and gore, it might be easy to take those behind the scenes for granted, but references like this remind fans that it’s a team effort and a labor of love. Breaking the fourth wall like this also brings a much-needed sense of levity to a franchise that otherwise might seem too grim or maudlin, with the ever-increasing level of violence on display in Mortal Kombat.
The Easter eggs contained in Mortal Kombat 2021 could have easily crossed over into pandering fan service, but the series has always done a fantastic job of walking the line, weaving references in subtly without beating the audience over the head with them. Seeing winks and nods like Jax’s conversation with Cole can provide a small rush of joy to longtime fans, rewarding them for paying attention for all these years, before the bloodshed inevitably continues.