Mortal Kombat star says a post-fatality scene made him sick

Mortal Kombat movie
(Image credit: Warner Bros/New Line Cinema)

The Mortal Kombat reboot reaches theaters and HBO Max later this month, and there's huge anticipation for the R-rated feature following the red band trailer earlier this year. The rating means the fatalities should be just as gruesome as the gameplay. Lewis Tan, who plays a new character, Cole Young, recently shared details regarding the infamous finishing moves.

In an interview with Variety, Tan was asked about the fatalities he witnessed while on set and how gruesome they were.  "Yeah, they’re pretty gruesome. I walked on set one day and I didn’t know what was going on, and I accidentally walked into a post-fatality set and I felt pretty sick to my stomach," he said.

"I was like, 'What the hell is this? What happened here?' It looked like somebody destroyed a buffet line, but there was no food."

Tan, who has been training in martial arts since childhood, also shared how he felt about fans being satisfied with the level of gore in the upcoming movie based on the popular videogame property. 

"That was one thing for sure that the director was adamant on. He was like, 'this is going to be hard R. Try not to make it NC-17, but let’s take it all the way up until that point.' And that’s what we did."

The good news is you won’t have to wait much longer to find out for yourself just how on the mark Tan is with his descriptions. Mortal Kombat hits theaters and will be available to stream on HBO Max on April 23. 

The sequel to the original Mortal Kombat movie, Annihilation, is currently available to stream along with another highly anticipated action-sci-fi film this year, Godzilla vs. Kong. There aren’t any fatalities, but there is plenty of carnage at the expense of city buildings. HBO Max will set you back $14.99 a month, with the option to cancel anytime.

Stephanie is a comic book historian and pop culture critic for publications including SYFYFANGRRLS, Marvel, The A.V. Club, Nerdist, Den of Geek, and Rotten Tomatoes. Stephanie is also a comic creator with three ongoing webcomics, Parenthood Activate!, But What If Though?, and Living Heroes. She made her Marvel debut with a short story featuring Monica Rambeau in Marvel’s Voices: Legacy. She recently made her DC Comics debut in Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2 and is co-writing the Nubia and the Amazons miniseries.