Directed by Simon McQuoid, the upcoming Mortal Kombat film is quickly filling up the character roles. It was just reported recently that they’ve gotten their Sonya Blade and Kano. And now according to Variety, the team has tapped our very own Chin Han to portray Mortal Kombat’s main villain Shang Tsung and Hiroyuki Sanada for the role of the resurrected ninja Scorpion.
Chin Han and Sanada join Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Lewis Tan (undisclosed lead character), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Tadanobu Asano (Raiden), Sisi Stringer (Mileena), Mehcad Brooks (Jax Briggs) and Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero).
This large ensemble of actors is expected for the Mortal Kombat reboot mvoie and it’s shaping up very nicely so far. It will be interesting to see who else gets called up (ahem, Johnny Cage?) and how screenwriter Greg Russo puts it altogether. Though the film plot still remains a mystery, what we do know is that Mortal Kombat is essentially about different fighters from different worlds clashing in an epic battle of good versus evil.
Shang Tsung
Singaporean actor Chin Han has been in the acting business for more than 20 years. He’s best known for starring in Masters of the Sea, the first Singapore-made English language drama. His career later brought him to Hollywood where he appeared in films like The Dark Knight and Contagion. He also did TV in the US with Arrow, Marco Polo and Last Resort. In 2012, he voiced Sunny in the Sleeping Dogs video game.
Chin Han will be portraying the role of Shang Tsung, a powerful and villainous shape-shifting sorcerer who consume souls to sustain his life and health. Thanks to the Evil God Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung can move between realms without any of the Elder Gods or local deities knowing it. His arch nemesis is Liu Kang so expect to see some heated battles between the two in the film. He is also one of the few original characters that debuted in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game as the final boss. And he’s best known for his famous battle cry, “YOUR SOUL IS MINE!”
Scorpion
Playing Scorpion is Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada. The 58-year-old is well-known for his martial arts and historical film roles like Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai). He’s also a stage actor in both Japanese and British plays and theatre, where his performance as The Fool in Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of King Lear landed him an honourary MBE in 2002. In Japan, he is a recognised recording artist with a series of albums and singles under his belt.
Scorpion is a classic Mortal Kombat character, being also one of the first few originals from the first arcade game. He is also one of the few that has appeared in some form in every Mortal Kombat game as a playable character. Scorpion is a resurrected hell spawn who seeks vengeance against the Lin Kuei clan who were responsible for the death of his family and destruction of his own clan, the Shirai Ryu. Scorpion himself was killed by one of their most powerful warriors, the elder Sub-Zero.
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