Injustice and Mortal Kombat, two franchises under the NetherRealm Studios name that are intimately familiar with left-field roster additions. While fans brace for Mortal Kombat 11 to release later this month, director and co-creator Ed Boon dropped a knowledge bomb on us that we weren’t expecting: Neo from The Matrix was almost a playable character.
Speaking with the team over at Game Informer, Boon confirmed that Neo almost made the cut. When the magazine asked him if they would ever consider Neo for Mortal Kombat, he responded that there was zero chance he would make it into the upcoming fighter – but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t considered in the past for their other huge franchise. In fact, Boon mentioned there was a “pretty close chance” that Neo could have been in Injustice 2 and honestly, we’re sort of lamenting the fact that it will never be.
Sure, Neo is no Shaggy but he was a character that the team kept filtering back to during Injustice 2’s development. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be – and it won’t be in Mortal Kombat 11 either – but it is interesting to reflect back on how different the fighter could have been. We also wonder if there were still pills involved, or …
As for the upcoming fighter, Mortal Kombat 11 will be dropping on April 23rd for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC players. To hear other cool tid-bits from Game Informer’s sitdown with Ed Boon, you can check out the full video right here.
For more about the game itself:
“Mortal Kombat is back and better than ever in the next evolution of the iconic franchise. The all new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control to customize the fighters and make them your own. The new graphics engine showcasing every skull-shattering, eye-popping moment, brings you so close to the fight you can feel it. And featuring a roster of new and returning Klassic Fighters, Mortal Kombat’s best in class cinematic story mode continues the epic saga over 25 years in the making.”
