Mortal Kombat 3 Script Underway With Plans to Revive Liu Kang

Warner Bros. approved production of Mortal Kombat 3 in October 2025. The decision came about seven months before Mortal Kombat 2 reached theaters. The company viewed the game adaptation as a potential ongoing franchise.

Mortal Kombat 2 has earned $60 million globally in its first week of release. That pace positions it to surpass the first film's lifetime gross of $84 million. The writer of the second film has begun discussing major plot points for the third installment.

In an interview, the writer said the team always planned to kill Liu Kang in the second movie. The performance by the actor changed that approach. The writer added that the character will return in the third film.

"We always had planned to kill him in this movie, but Ludi Lin is so goddamned good. We didn’t expect how much even the casual audience would fall in love with Liu Kang. " — Jeremy Slater (Forbes) The writer noted that the death scene was altered to leave open the question of whether the character died or ascended to another plane.

The comment aligns with game lore that could show the character in fire god form. The writer addressed the early death of Cole Young, the original character created for the first film. The writer said the character had been added as a studio requirement to serve as a point-of-view figure but did not fit the broader universe.

The writer expressed interest in bringing back the actor in some capacity, possibly in the third film, while not reviving the Cole Young role. The writer indicated that alternate worlds and timelines would be handled carefully. "I think we would certainly want to steer clear of doing any sort of major timeline reboots or resets, especially because what we’re learning right now is people like these characters and tone.