Mortal Kombat 2 writer called up co-creator Ed Boon for advice on the "best fatalities and stages" to put in the sequel

When writing a Mortal Kombat movie, we imagine one of the best people to have on speed dial is one of the founders of the fighting game franchise.

And so it proved with Mortal Kombat 2, as cast member Ludi Lin – who returns once more as Liu Kang in the sequel – revealed that co-creator Ed Boon provided the perfect sounding board for writer Jeremy Slater.

"I was speaking with Jeremy, and he was just saying what a goldmine [Ed Boon] was," Lin said at a virtual press conference attended by GamesRadar+.

"Anytime he wasn't sure what direction to go, what to add [from] the game, the best stages, the best fatalities, all he had to do was call you up and go, 'What do you think people like?' Then he would write it in. Then our stunt team, [and director Simon McQuoid] would just take it to another level."

For Slater's part, the writer (who has worked with Marvel Studios and on the Godzilla franchise in the past) wanted to tap into his button-bashing days of putting quarters into an arcade machine to play Mortal Kombat – while trying to leave his virtual opponent a bloody mess.

"I really tried to write the movie that the 14-year-old me would have walked out of the theater saying that was the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life [and to] make it a sort of love letter to these characters in this world that Ed Boon and NetherRealm have created over the last 30 years," Slater explained.

To that end, Mortal Kombat 2 finally introduces its fabled fight-to-the-death tournament structure, with a roster of newcomers – led by Karl Urban's Johnny Cage – going toe-to-toe with series returnees such as Josh Lawson's Kano and Lewis Tan's Cole Young. May the best fighter win, and may the losers die a glorious death.

Mortal Kombat 2 hits cinemas on May 8. For more, check out the upcoming video game movies currently in the works.