The purple-clad fighter Rain didn't make the cut for Mortal Kombat 2021, but that could benefit Raiden's story in an eventual sequel movie. Poor Rain just can't seem to catch a break. He actually made his debut in the game Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 although, oddly enough, not as a playable character. Instead, Rain was an elaborate red herring that co-creator Ed Boon threw in as a Prince joke, hence his purple color scheme. It wasn't until the home console versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 that he became playable.
After that inauspicious video game debut, Rain went on to appear in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the sequel so famously bad that it killed the MK movie franchise for more than two decades. Even worse, not only was he part of a terrible movie, but Rain was made into a complete joke, appearing for mere minutes, before being killed in one blow by Shao Kahn, his own boss, due to not torturing and killing Kabal and Stryker after capturing them. Clearly, Outworld has no human resources department.
It was revealed by Mortal Kombat (2021) director Simon McQuoid that Rain was originally set to be part of the new movie, only to get removed from plans due to the sense that his inclusion wasn't doing anything to move the story forward. While Rain fans may be annoyed that he was snubbed, saving Rain for a possible sequel movie could work in the favor of Mortal Kombat's resident thunder god, Raiden.
Rain's Mortal Kombat Exclusion Could Be A Blessing For Raiden
Sporting water-based powers, for obvious reasons, Rain originally appeared to be another palette-swapped ninja Mortal Kombat character. However, for years Rain was unaware of his true heritage. It was eventually revealed that Rain was actually a demi-god, the product of a coupling between god and sworn protector of the realm of Edenia, Argus, and a normal Edenian. In Rain's personal ending for Mortal Kombat 9, Raiden himself actually tells Rain about his parentage and legacy, but it backfires, as Rain would then try to build an army of followers and conquer all realms, including Earthrealm.
While that ending isn't canon, Mortal Kombat 10 does make clear that Rain did still learn of his divine background between games, and eventually became an enemy of Argus, Delia, and their sons. At an earlier point in the franchise, Argus, thanks to the apocalyptic visions of his sorceress wife Delia, becomes convinced that he must destroy the Mortal Kombat tournament and its combatants for the good of the universe. Should Warner Bros. want to go grander with a potential Mortal Kombat sequel movie, this sort of family story, full of lies, high stakes, and strong emotions could be a perfect place to center things.
By introducing Rain in the sequel, rather than setting him up to appear in the original reboot film, he could actually end up getting more spotlight, as his ties to Argus would necessitate a prominent role. By proxy, Raiden could also play a big part in the story, perhaps mirroring what happened in Rain's MK9 ending. The god lore is one of the most interesting parts of Mortal Kombat's mythology, but has gotten little focus onscreen so far. Raiden, protector of Earthrealm, squaring off with Argus, protector of Edenia, with Rain in the middle, could prove to be extremely interesting.
