The developers of Mortal Kombat 1 seem just as excited as we are for the possibility that the new game's Kameo Fighter system might open the door for a bigger array of crossover characters.
Mortal Kombat has often included characters from other franchises - Peacemaker, Homelander, and Omni-Man are all scheduled for the new game's DLC, for example. But MK's brutal fatalities tend to make rights holders squeamish about licensing their characters for appearances in the series. It's tough to imagine, say, Marvel wanting to put Spider-Man in a game where somebody might reach into his neck and rip out his entire spinal cord.
But Mortal Kombat 1's Kameo Fighter system, which sees characters pop into the battle for quick tag-team moves, wouldn't have that problem. "I've been kind of saying, 'You know, we could theoretically have Batman in here.' You don't do any fatalities on the Kameo characters," Mortal Kombat lead Ed Boon tells 12DOVE. "That'd be a little bit of a challenge because it'd have to live up to Mortal Kombat, but it certainly opens the door for that."
We also posited the possibility of characters from other IP being a good fit for the Kameo system to lead designer Derek Kirtzic and, well, I should probably just show you the straight interview transcript here.
GR+: [Kameo Fighters] feels like a perfect sort of system to allow guest characters that maybe the rights holders don't want their heads being ripped off.
Kirtzic: I can't agree with you more!
GR+: Yeah!
Kirtzic: Yeah!
GR+: It seems like the perfect opportunity for that sort of–
Kirtzic: It really, really does.
GR+: Yeah?
Kirtzic: Yeah!
GR+: Okay. Just–
Kirtzic: Let's high five on that!
We did not leave Kirtzic hanging. Ed Boon's Batman example is probably the most obvious one, given that MK developer NetherRealm is owned by Warner Bros. and handles the DC-themed Injustice series. Plus the series has the legacy of the T-rated Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to fall back on. Assuming Warner Bros. IP is easier to reach an agreement on, I'd have to imagine that any of the MultiVersus characters would be fair game here… and now I can't get the image of Tom and Jerry showing up to hit Shang Tsung with a frying pan out of my head.
We also got a look at Mortal Kombat 1's new single-player Invasions mode.
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