The upcoming Mortal Kombat film brings many of the video game series' iconic characters back to the big screen, but none perhaps as icily sinister as Sub-Zero. Portrayed by Joe Taslim, the ninja warrior Sub-Zero is introduced in Mortal Kombat amidst an attack against the Hanzo Hasashi family. For Taslim, this scene paved the way to elevate his character, making him a threat while also delving into his emotional motivations. "For the Sub-Zero I'm portraying in this movie, way before I knew they wanted me to play him, I just realized I've got to give more," Taslim told MangaSpurs. He continued, "Everybody knows he's cool and he's just kickass but I wanted to [lean] more into that he's half-human/half-Edenian as a Cyromancer, I wanted to give more soul to him to make him feel more alive. I want people to feel his pain and to his contemplations and still has dilemmas.
If you watch the beginning of the movie, I deliver a lot of intentions inside that house with the conversation with the wife, Hanzo and the kid. I go 'Hey, you remind me of Kuai Liang, my brother' so you almost believe he's a good guy but he's not. It made him more scary so when I watched it the first time I was like 'I'm good now' because sometimes you give so much, then watch the movie and it's not there. So when I watched that and the whole movie, I [felt] justice for Sub-Zero, Sub-Zero deserves this." Taslim specifically portrays the Sub-Zero from 1992's Mortal Kombat video game. After his defeat at the titular martial arts tournament, the character resurfaces in 1993's Mortal Kombat II, as undead ninja warrior Noob Saibot. While it's unknown if Bi-Han's cinematic arc will echo his video game counterpart, the frosty fighter is out for blood in the new film. Directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, Mortal Kombat stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Bridges, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young and Laura Brent as Allison Young. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max April 23.
