Tadanobu Asano is the third actor to play Raiden in a live-action Mortal Kombat movie, but here's how his version compares to previous iterations. Video game to movie translations has historically proven difficult, with only a handful of attempts like 2006's Silent Hill managing to receive good reviews. Another is 1995's Mortal Kombat, which despite its toned-down PG-13 rating, was a colorful adventure with a likable cast, some great fights and - of course - THAT pumping techno theme. Mortal Kombat was a sizable success and looked set to spawn a franchise - that is until the sequel actually arrived.
While the original movie focused on a small group of heroes and featured a contained story, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation took the opposite approach. It crammed in as many characters from the games as it could - in some cases not even bothering to name them onscreen - and due to a combination of terrible performances, a messy screenplay and mostly uninvolving fights, it was something of a chore. It was also revealed years later that the movie wasn't even technically finished, with New Line releasing an unrefined workprint filled with incomplete CGI effects after it tested well with preview audiences. Despite plans for a third movie called Devastation, the series stalled on the big screen until the 2021 reboot.
Thunder god Raiden is a key figure in the Mortal Kombat game series, and he is an Elder God responsible for training the warriors who defend Earthrealm in the titular tournament. After Danny Glover was considered, Highlander star Christopher Lambert took on the role in the 1995 movie. Lord Raiden isn't allowed to fight in Mortal Kombat, so acts as a sage mentor to Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Liu Kang instead, and helps them overcome their own doubts and hangups. While he uses his lightning abilities a couple of times, he doesn't have any fight scenes, while Lambert brought a nice comic edge to the role, including his famous laugh.
While Lambert very much plays a supporting role in the original film, Raiden gets in on the action in 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Sadly, the role was recast with James Remar, who is a great performer but feels somewhat miscast as Raiden. The movie expands on Raiden's backstory a great deal, including the reveal he's Outworld emperor Shao Kahn's brother, and he later gives up his own immortality to fight with his Earth warriors after the invasion begins. While he's later killed in a fight, he's revived at the end by the Elder Gods. Remar's Raiden loses some of the humor of Lambert's version too, though given the apocalyptic stakes of the story, this is somewhat understandable.
Tadanobu Asano took on Raiden for the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot, where he is once again responsible for the training of the Earthrealm warriors who bear the dragon mark. Outworld's Shang Tsung attempt to cheat by killing those who bear this mark before the tournament even begins and Raiden is noticeably colder to the Earth fighters than past versions. This Raiden also has more impressive displays of his lightning powers, including teleporting fighters to new locations or erecting a powerful energy barrier. Raiden later warms to his ragtag band of fighters, and while he doesn't break the rules of the tournament, he proves willing to bend them in the final act.