The upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot could be retconning a major element of the history Scorpion and Sub-Zero's long-standing rivalry. Directed by Simon McQuoid, Mortal Kombat is set to arrive on April 16, and will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, as part of Warner Bros. release strategy for their entire 2021 slate. With the promise of an R-rating and left and right fatalities, there's already huge anticipation for what Mortal Kombat has in store — which was only amplified when Entertainment Weekly released a batch of movie images from Mortal Kombat, offering just a hint of what fans of the franchise can expect.

One image in particular also offers a subtle indication that the film might make some adjustments to the bad blood between the franchise's famed rivals, Scorpion and Sub-Zero, played by Hiroyuki Sanada and Joe Taslim. The image in question shows Sub-Zero plunging a spear into Scorpion's shoulder. What's interesting about this image is that it seems to take place very early in their history before either possesses their respective supernatural powers. The context of the photo could also tease that the manner in which the two become enemies is different from their history in the games.

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In the Mortal Kombat mythos, the sorcerer Quan Chi killed the family of Scorpion, framing Sub-Zero for the crime and leading to Scorpion's vendetta against the man he believes murdered his loved ones. Yet, in the aforementioned image, Sub-Zero looks much more like the aggressor in their encounter, and this could indicate that the two become enemies in some other way in the movie. Theoretically, it might now be Sub-Zero who holds a grudge against Scorpion, or the two may simply be portrayed as natural enemies through Sub-Zero's affiliation with the Lin Kuei and Scorpion's connection to the Shirai-Ryu. The movie's opening might also signal the reboot departing a bit from the origin of Scorpion and Sub-Zero's enmity.

Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat

As McQuoid revealed in the Entertainment Weekly article, Mortal Kombat will open with a fight scene between Scorpion and Sub-Zero in feudal Japan, the two still going by the names of Hanzo Hasashi and Bi Han and lacking their well-known powers of deadly spears and creating ice. Between McQuoid's description and the image of the two, it seems like Mortal Kombat could be telling its own version of how two of the most famous video game characters around became the sworn enemies that the world knows them as. If that's the case, that just adds that much more intrigue to one of 2021's most anticipated movies.

This wouldn't be the first time Scorpion and Sub-Zero's history has been retconned in a movie, either: the two were shown as mind-controlled servants of Shang Tsung in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. Their history has also been faithfully recreated in other adaptations, too, such as in the web-series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and in the 2020 animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, which also made its own changes. Obviously, going in either direction would be a valid approach for the reboot to take, and it could even add something new to the franchise's lore with its own version of how Scorpion and Sub-Zero became bitter foes. With an R-rating, lots of hard-hitting martial arts blended with supernatural elements, and the fatalities of its namesake, Mortal Kombat is bringing a lot to the table, but it might also have a surprise in its story with two of its key characters.

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