I, like most decent, red-blooded Americans, love video games and comic books. I mean, 
that should be obvious by now. Also, what should be obvious is that I love Mortal Kombat. The vehicle you’re reading this sentence in has been the subject of many MK musings and will definitively be in about two issues. Everything MK.
What’s a little less obvious, however, is how much I love The Boys. I promise you, long before it was fashionable, I was trying to get my hands on Garth Ennis’ masterful satire take on the superhero genre. So, color me not surprised when the live-action version of the graphic novel became a bonafide hit. Also color me not surprised when Homelander – the over-the-top murderous Superman analogue – started showing up everywhere.
Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE Antony Starr as Homelander. You’re really tuning in to see what he’s going to say and do in every season. He is the star and the draw of the show, after all. But let’s get back to Mortal Kombat for a second. You know what’s the draw and star of the franchise? The ridiculous, over-the-top ways you can kill fictional characters. Murderous Superman analogue and murderous game franchise combining to let you play as murderous Superman analogue? What could go wrong?(TM) Let’s explore that.
First of all, it’s been made plainly clear many times that Homelander is functionally immortal and impervious to a lot of things. There isn’t even kryptonite to slow him down, because he’s not a native of a planet that exploded because of it; he just plays one on TV. So, how exactly are we going to kill Homelander? Second, how does Homelander (and by extension Omni-Man and Peacemaker) exist in this universe? They are fictional characters doing a guest spot in a universe that doesn’t acknowledge most other fictional universe elements around it with the exception of random guest characters. Third, why hasn’t Mortal Kombat as a franchise learned its lesson about guest characters yet? They keep shoehorning these extra characters in when there are so many more neglected MK characters to revive and fan favorites that other folks want playable (Editor’s note: I’m shouting out Sareena for my habibi Yiannis). No, I don’t want Jason from Friday the 13th. No, I don’t want Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street. No, I don’t want Omni-Man or Homelander. I want Sareena or Jade. Hell, I’ll even take Khameleon/Chameleon because at least I know them. What I don’t want is some rando from a franchise that has nothing to do with Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat world building has always been about the tournament, the realms, fighting for life and death. It is not about the latest and greatest random character that happens to be awesome in pop culture.
These additional characters just randomly showing up as fighters in the Kombat Packs is the very definition of doing too much. Instead of wasting time on characters that shouldn’t be there, maybe flesh out some of the older ones that the NetherRealm crew seems to act like don’t exist. There are 77 total characters created. Surely, one or a few can be chosen to flesh out the packs if they don’t make the main roster. This need to jump to guest characters is annoying as an MK elder. Get that pop culture off my MK lawn, whippersnappers.
Lyndsey Beatty is editor-in-chief of Gaming Insurrection. She can be reached by email at lyndseyb@gaminginsurrection.com
