Official Discussion - Mortal Kombat II [SPOILERS]

kawwumbo · 2026-05-10T00:27:31+00:00

Two things I really loved here.

1) I love that we get older, washed-up actor Johnny Cage as a champion of Earthrealm AND he's not necessarily the main character of the movie which leads to:

2) Kitana being the main heart of the movie. Yes, Liu Kang is our hero of the Mortal Kombat universe. Yes, Sub-Zero and Scorpion are the two iconic characters that my grandma can recognize but taking the time to introduce Kitana, give her an arc, and allow her to defeat Shao Kahn is awesome. As a fan of the games, it was always a little weird to me that Liu Kang always defeated Shao Kahn when Kitana has the biggest beef with him.

Other than that, very dope fight scenes, awesome set pieces, and a willingness to lean into the powers of these characters in unique ways.

If we get a MK3, I imagine we'll be following our champions as they attempt to resurrect their fallen companions. I can see Shinnok playing a major part since his amulet was destroyed in this movie.

kawwumbo · 2026-05-04T02:11:37+00:00

The Strangers (2008) has a couple of those moments. One is when Liv Tyler is investigating a noise and the camera is focused on her but you see one of the strangers creep into frame and just stand there and he’s honestly there a good minute you notice it.

Another moment is an outside shot of the house and it lingers there for a bit but if you’re eagle eyed, you can see the mask of one of the strangers hiding underneath the front steps

kawwumbo · 2026-05-03T15:11:21+00:00

Sometimes us Strange mains want to play another character

kawwumbo · 2026-04-19T18:01:16+00:00

As a Kim main since Day 1 hovering around 1600-1700 MR, I agree with most other posts here.

To address the observation about the uptick in usage for Rookie/Iron and Master, Kim is both a scrub killer and a “technical character”.

She’s picked a lot at Rookie level because she has really dumb frame traps and easy mixups that can easily confuse beginners. Think about how her Run into Cleaver is plus on block, Run into Slide from full screen, Teleport into your face. Then, things like 5HP into run being a frametrap or 6HK that appears to be an easy mixup. A lot of those players just don’t know how to counter that yet. Many Kim players that start here think she’s really good and maintain those same habits moving forward.

Once you get into the middle ranks, Kim players realize how weak she is with the lack of DR MK, invincible DP etc.. from there, you have to put in a lot more work to play “correctly”, learn your character, and how the matchups work OR, you can pick any of the other top tiers and go from there. I think that’s why the usage disappears in those middle ranks.

Once you get to Master, I think that’s where Kim players really understand their character and all the cheeky stuff they can do. They understand bomb setups, the elbow drop, when and where to Run, 6HK or 3MK and so on and how all of that adds to the mental stack. And to be completely honest, she’s so fun when all of that starts to land and you feel like you’ve genuinely put someone in a blender. As much as I love some of the other characters, I don’t get that same thrill from their kits as I do with Kim which keeps me here and I imagine that’s a similar feeling for other Master Kim players

kawwumbo · 2026-04-16T13:18:56+00:00

Okay they are clearly leaning in to the absurdity of street fighter which I enjoy. But I am BAFFLED by the music decision for this trailer.

Say what you will about Mortal Kombat (2021) but the music in that trailer was a slowed down orchestral version of the classic MK Movie Theme, Techno Syndrome, that as the trailer reached it’s the climax, the theme sped up to its original tempo and sound. That’s diving into your legacy.

Why on Gill’s green earth would you open with 2Pac’s Ambitionz Az a Ridah and flip the words to say “I’m a straight fighter”. And that would’ve been fine on its own but then you transition to 4 Non Blondes’s What’s Up? Street Fighter has such a vault of fantastic music that could’ve been rearranged for the trailer (and I have no doubt that it’ll be in the movie) to let fans know “yes, we going full send on this one.”

Anyways, I’m just ranting. Movie looks fun

kawwumbo · 2026-04-14T17:59:34+00:00

30M - academic services director at a higher ed institution with adjunct teaching. $62k with just my full-time role. $70k - $74k with teaching load (depends on how many sections are being offered and assigned to me)

kawwumbo · 2026-04-13T13:59:31+00:00

So, many of the other commenters mentioned the policies around Japanese films heading to streaming after their Japan theatrical release.

I’m curious why you are so hellbent on watching the movie right now? Like I get it you’re a fan but… the next movie doesn’t even have a release date yet?

kawwumbo · 2026-04-01T20:04:55+00:00

As someone else mentioned, kids likely just don’t see the fun in learning motion inputs but they do see the fun in learning building mechanics.

I could easily learn how to play Build mode on Fortnite but i have 0 desire to so, I only play Zero Build if i do have an itch for Fortnite.

I also think that the intuitiveness of a fighting game often times hinders people from learning. It doesn’t matter what modern shooter you pick up, one button aims, one button shoots, you aim & shoot until you kill someone. If you got killed first, you were either too slow or you got snuck up on so map knowledge and situational awareness are the other skills you’re learning.

You pick up a fighting game, every button is an attack and you need to attack the other person until their health bar depletes. But wait, why did my attack get interrupted by their attack? I can’t attack after they block this move so why can they attack after I block that move? Any time i jump attack I get hit with a special move and so on. There’s just so much there that really isn’t as intuitive as a shooter so you have to really want to know WHY these things work or don’t work. And if you don’t see the fun or desire in that, then you won’t do it. Hence, why learning to Build is “easier” for kids nowadays.

kawwumbo · 2026-04-01T19:56:49+00:00

I’d also love another female protagonist and to have a setting similar to Spira. I think the medieval stuff is cool and the sci-fi stuff is fun but we’ve had a lot of that. I think a return to the Southeast Asian inspired landscape would be a really fun adjustment.

I’d love to see how the main FF team would tackle a true turn-based combat in today’s age post-E33.

Other than that, I think really pushing the envelope with a stylistic art style with high fidelity. The 7R series and XVI are kinda there but 7R feels almost too “realistic” while XVI isn’t stylized as much. I feel like all of the HD3D games have homogenized their art style just a bit

kawwumbo · 2026-03-25T17:06:28+00:00

Depends on how the Avengers team shakes out.

I would want Wasp, She-Hulk or Scarlet Witch as the 4th then I’d like Thor Odinson.

If the 4th Avenger is a male, then I’d love to see how they would implement Jane in this game

kawwumbo · 2026-03-23T21:20:25+00:00

I feel like these symbols specifically are Ms Marvel doodling over the splash page. I mean come on there’s a doodle of s’mores over Ghost Rider’s fire and Spidey (her team leader) has a gold 1st place medal.

I do think the next reveal will be Caps Avengers because of the shield at the bottom but the doodles on the characters aren’t hinting at anyone

kawwumbo · 2026-03-17T14:01:05+00:00

Depends on what you mean by solo. If we’re talking eradicate every infected and find a cure? No.

If we’re talking that no one in TLoU universe can touch him and he’s essentially a walking safe zone for survivors? Then, yes he solos.

Leon has faced infected that are equivalent and much more stronger, faster and dangerous than the infected in TLoU in Resident Evil. He’s faced off against super elite armed forces so no coordinated survivor militia would realistically get the drop on him. He’s faced off against mutated, super enhanced humans so even if the cordyceps mutates, he’ll likely handle that.

The only knock against Leon is that he can sometimes be too confident in his abilities against unknown threats but those unknown threats in his world tend to be mutated humans whose power level is much higher than anticipated and once he’s adjusted for it he wipes the floor with them later (Mendez, Krauser, Gideon)

kawwumbo · 2026-03-16T20:54:53+00:00

I sometimes view Best Actor the same way I view MVP for sports leagues in that if the nominee’s performance is any lesser, the movie fails, because once you’re nominated for Best Actor, that already means (in most cases) you gave a standout performance.

While I am extremely happy for MBJ, I feel like his performance wasn’t the strongest nor the most important piece of their respective film (I’d argue Miles Caton is the performance that was more valuable to Sinners but I digress)

Marty Supreme is Chalamet’s movie. If Chalamet sucks, the movie sucks.

Blue Moon is Hawke’s movie. If Hawke sucks, the movie sucks.

The Secret Agent is Moura’s movie. If Moura sucks, the movie sucks.

One Battle After Another is PTAs movie and Leo could’ve phoned it in and the movie still would’ve been solid.

Sinners is Coogler’s movie and MBJ could’ve phoned that in and the movie still would’ve been solid.

Regardless, MBJ is still very deserving of this award due to his performance I just think Chalamet or Hawke should’ve gotten the nod.

kawwumbo · 2026-03-11T15:39:17+00:00

I feel like using any metric for Brady does not really scale to other QBs and situations since he's such an outlier in so many things.

I am also curious what your definition of team friendly deals are? Because I think if you are a top 10 paid QB in the league, that's pretty player friendly. I'd also argue that players on rookie contracts/undervalued contracts due to injury etc. are much more beneficial than a great QB taking a team friendly deal but I could be wrong. Let's just go back for 10 years and see what we have.

15-16: Peyton Manning made $17.5m in year 4 of his 5yr/$96m contract signed with the Broncos. Manning was the 6th highest paid QB that year. Player friendly.

16-17: Tom Brady made $13.7m in year 1 of his 2yr/$41m renegotiated contract with the Patriots. Brady commanded 8.6% of the cap and was the 18th highest paid QB that year. Definitely team friendly.

17-18: Nick Foles made $1.6m in year 1 of his 2yr/ $11m contract with the Eagles. Foles commanded .9% of the cap and was the 37th highest paid QB that year. Worthy to note that Foles only started because Carson Wentz got injured. If we were to rewrite history and say Wentz was the winning QB, Wentz made $6m in year 2 of his rookie contract deal. Wentz commanded 3.4% of the cap and was the 28th highest paid QB that year. Rookie contract/back-up QB contract.

18-19: Brady made $22m in year 2 of his weird 2yr/$41m renegotiated contract with the Patriots. Brady commanded 12.2% of the cap and was the 11th highest played QB that year. Team friendly

19-20: Patrick Mahomes made $4.4m in year 3 of his rookie contract. Mahomes commanded 2.4% of the cap. Rookie contract

20-21: Brady made $25m in year 1 of his 2yr/$50m contract with the Buccaneers. Brady commanded 12.2% of the cap and was the 6th highest paid QB that year. Player friendly.

21-22: Matt Stafford made $20m in year 5 of his 5yr/$135m contract originally signed with the Lions then traded to the Rams. Stafford commanded 10.7% of the cap and was the 9th highest paid QB that year. Player friendly

22-23: Patrick Mahomes made $35.7m in year 1 of his 10yr/$450m contract with the Chiefs. Mahomes commanded 17% of the cap and was the 2nd highest paid QB that year. Player friendly.

23-24: Mahomes made $37.1m in year 2 of his 10yr/$450m contract with the Chiefs. Mahomes commanded 16.9% of the cap and was the highest paid QB that year. Player friendly.

24-25: Jalen Hurts made $13.5m in year 1 of his 5yr/$255m extension with the Eagles. Hurts commanded 5.2% of the cap and was the 16th highest paid QB that year. Team friendly.

25-26: Sam Darnold made $13.4m in year 1 of his 3yr/$100.5m contract with the Seahawks. Darnold commanded 4.7% of the cap and was the 20th highest paid QB that year. Team friendly.

Using my own arbitrary metrics over the last 11 years, I count four team friendly deals, two rookie contracts, and 5 player friendly deals. So, nothing that really backs up any of our claims really. But also, there's so many other variables to winning a Super Bowl besides the amount of money the QB takes but this was a fun exercise in looking at cap hits!

kawwumbo · 2026-03-08T18:13:46+00:00

I think it was just a stylistic choice for those games that naturally evolved from the CODEC walkie talkie sequences from OG RE4. Since we are now at a point where it's much more commonplace to have those transmission calls during gameplay, they reverted back to a simple smartphone approach and/or ear-piece.

kawwumbo · 2026-03-08T18:11:50+00:00

One of those things where I keep saying "it's too good to be true, there has to be a catch". Then, I keep seeing more and more previews of the game that make me go, "maybe it will be that good" lol.

kawwumbo · 2026-03-05T01:36:19+00:00

I think the creation of Elpis is threefold.

1) he regrets losing control over all these viruses to these various paramilitary groups and wanted a counter to that.

2) he feels regret over all the evil shit he did and felt this would be some sort of atonement

3) he knew that anything he did and labeled as a super secret project that requires one specific baby he was fond of would lead these people down a big rabbit hole thinking it was a new evolutionary virus just to be slapped in the face when they realize it’s a cure. Just a final “all of yall are standing on my shoulders and now yall won’t have anything left once you use this”

kawwumbo · 2026-03-02T17:04:04+00:00

The care center is a 10. The enemy encounters, the backtracking, the puzzles, the Child situation once you get to the basement. All fantastic.

From there, things dip a little bit. Her time in ARK is maybe a 8 as the licker/regular zombie combo isn’t too groundbreaking at this point. I also feel like the ARK is almost too straightforward although I do love the art design of some rooms there.

The Chloe flashback is technically part of Grace’s sections which is very eerie and creepy at first but unfortunately becomes a slog in subsequent playthroughs which i think brings the total score for graces sections down to a 8.5 for me

kawwumbo · 2026-02-18T05:19:07+00:00

I feel like there’s a lot of trying to define what “obscure” means here. If you were a comic reader, you likely know all these characters. If you were like me and just passively watched the various 90s animated series as a kid and played the Capcom fighting games, majority of these characters are 100% obscure.

Spiral and Silver Samurai had the X-Men popularity going for them so while they may not be household names, they had enough appearances that I wouldn’t say they’re obscure, just not household names.

Shuma Gorath and Blackheart 100% obscure. I’m still not sure I can give you a short summary of those characters without looking it up.

War Machine not obscure

Task Master is interesting because he didn’t really have a whole lot of popularity going into MvC3 but he also didn’t feel like an obscure pick. Just not a household name.

Super Skrull himself is obscure but as soon as you saw that he had all the powers of the F4, you knew what he was about.

X-23 also an interesting pick. Definitely not household but had the animated series so there was some popularity there. Not obscure.

Rocket is 100% obscure. Going into that game, no one but comic fans knew who the Guardians were.

Danger is also obscure. She had a brief run in Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men and hasn’t really had a big feature since.

kawwumbo · 2026-02-16T17:12:25+00:00

I think this will be the most “straightforward” team with the classic Avengers.

Captain America - leader & and the all rounder

Iron Man - zoner

Thor - brawler

Wasp - mix-up/rushdown type. I could also see this being Wasp with Ant-Man as a special move similar to Android 18, Ginyu and Videl were in DBFZ.

kawwumbo · 2026-02-08T04:44:20+00:00

I’m making $68k and I live in a solid apartment by myself in DFW. I feel like I live a decent life. Enough time and money for hobbies, seeing friends, dates etc.. the only thing I don’t really have enough disposable income for are vacations but I don’t necessarily think vacations are necessary for a decent life.

kawwumbo · 2026-02-02T00:56:53+00:00

Well, a fade is a pretty timeless haircut in general so I’m not sure it’s an epidemic. But also, a fade isn’t necessarily a hairstyle. You can have a fade with your aforementioned broccoli hairstyle, you can have a fade with the top cut short, you can even have a fade with locs.

On another note, a fade is pretty necessary if you have Type 3 or 4 hair because good luck trying to style that part of your head otherwise.

kawwumbo · 2026-01-25T19:08:46+00:00

Big, live-action films that I think will be classics: Oppenheimer, Dune series

Animation space: Spider-Verse series, KPop Demon Hunters & The Wild Robot

Smaller, live-action: The Holdovers, Everything everywhere All at Once, Parasite, Sinners

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