Mortal Kombat 2 proves that death is about as permanent as a rub-on tattoo. As long as there’s a body and the necromancer Quan Chi (played by Damon Herriman) is hanging around, resurrection is possible. Except if you’re Lewis Tan’s Cole Young. Then you’re deader than Universal’s Dark Universe.
To the surprise of absolutely no one alive on the planet, Cole doesn’t survive the events of Mortal Kombat 2. The divisive character receives a noble death, however, as he loses to Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) in combat. To be fair, the ruler of Outworld cheats to win by turning himself into an immortal, but that’s expected in a franchise where nut punches and demons are legal.
Kahn doesn’t only pound Cole’s head into hamburger meat, but he also makes sure to chuck his lifeless corpse into the famous acid pit. This is particularly important for one reason: it signifies that there’s no hope of Cole coming back like Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) in Mortal Kombat 3. His body would be disintegrated into nothingness by the time his pals find him. Also, let’s be real here, no one in the film really mourns him for too long. It’s a case of, “Cole is gone. Oh, no… So, how are we going to destroy Shinnok’s amulet?”
The death of Cole isn’t shocking. Not many fans liked him or the fact that he was made the main character of 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Consequently, when the sequel came around and Cole didn’t feature much in the trailers, the writing was always on the wall for him, and the fanbase celebrated.
There’s one big problem with his death, though: he’s the only real casualty in Mortal Kombat 2. The likes of Jax, Kung Lao, and Liu Kang are almost certain to come back, so when they die in the movie, there’s no sadness or emotion about their “losses.” Cole’s death is permanent, but it’s akin to a fart at a funeral. No one cares.
That’s an overall issue that the franchise has run into, because death doesn’t mean much here. A fighter who dies in one movie is able to be revived for the next. Sure, somebody can argue that it isn’t different from the video game series, but remember, a film doesn’t necessarily operate the same way. The approach to storytelling differs. Death in a movie is a way in which filmmakers are able to elicit emotion or sympathy for characters. It also creates greater purpose for the remaining characters to avenge their fallen friend.
Now, it’s tough to do that in the Mortal Kombat movies if everybody keeps being resurrected. The only way that death can mean something is if at least one important character doesn’t make it out alive. In other words, they’re dead-dead. For some bizarre reason, Simon McQuoid and his team decided this person should be Cole Young – someone whom no fan cares about and whom even the characters within the movie seem indifferent toward.
At the same time, it’s probably the only decision they could have made in retrospect. Cole was never going to change the sentiment toward him, so he was a dead man walking all along. Let’s just hope that nobody has any silly ideas about introducing time travel or turning Cole into a spectre who becomes the next Scorpion.
