Mortal Kombat is a gore-filled video game franchise that has little reason to cross paths with Disney, but the movie studio actually used one of Mortal Kombat‘s characters in a movie. The video games are best known for “fatalities,” which are brutal ways to kill opponents and the game’s characters are just as crude and vulgar. Whether it’s Johnny Cage or Kano, most of the characters have profanity-filled one-liners and hilariously disturbing fighting talk. And that was perfectly adapted for the big screen, as Kano’s dialogue wasn’t toned down for 2021’s Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat crossed over with Scooby-Doo once, which actually made sense given that the movie rights to both properties belong to Warner Bros, and it’s even more fitting because Scooby-Doo and Shaggy would make great commentators for an actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Any of these types of crossovers are in Mortal Kombat projects, and rightly so, as there’s no way Mortal Kombat can feature in a kids’ movie and still get away with a G rating. However, of all the movie studios, it was Disney that threw a Mortal Kombat character in a key scene in one of its animated films.
Kano Appeared In Wreck-It Ralph
Though Deadpool 3 will be R-rated, that’s the only exception, as there’s no movie studio more averse to R-ratings than Disney. Disney is constantly making efforts to protect its very child-friendly brand at all costs. However, one scene in Wreck-It Ralph features Kano, who even reenacts his disgusting fatality. It makes total sense that Kano would appear in the 2012 movie, as Wreck-It Ralph is about playing video games and takes place in a world where the characters know they’re part of a video game. Kano appears in one of the funniest scenes in the movie when Ralph visits Bad-Anon, a villain support group.
Along with Kano, the support group features other iconic villains, including Bowser from the Super Mario franchise, Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog, the Pac-Man ghost, and many others. However, the Mortal Kombat-influenced character in Wreck-It Ralph isn’t technically Kano, as his name is Cyborg in the credits. This was likely done because that character belongs to Warner Bros. and calling the character Kano would become a licensing issue. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely clear who the character really is, as he even pulls off Kano’s classic fatality when he pulls a zombie’s heart out of his chest, which can also be seen in 2021’s Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat 11 Got Its Own Back On Disney
There’s no question about why Disney pulled off this stunt, as Kano is the funniest Mortal Kombat character and quite clearly a villain, and Cyborg was a homage to Mortal Kombat. However, the Mortal Kombat video game series totally got its own back on the movie studio. In 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, multiple fight intros reference Frozen whenever Frost is an opponent, with the most obvious being when Cassie Cage says to Frost, “Hey Elsa, what’s up?” Frost responds, “Why does everyone call me that?!” Though it isn’t exactly the Mortal Kombat vs. Disney game that needs to happen, it’s classic Mortal Kombat humor.
