Though an official reveal is still waiting in the wings, Mortal Kombat 12 is all but confirmed at this point. First announced unceremoniously by Warner Bros. During a recent financial meeting, an official Mortal Kombat 12 reveal seems destined to occur any day now, with NetherRealm's recent "Thank You from NetherRealm" YouTube video seemingly teasing the next entry in the 30-year-old franchise.
Coming in at just two minutes long, the "Thank You from NetherRealm" video sees a slew of different developers and creatives over at the studio thanking fans for sticking by the Mortal Kombat franchise for the last 30 years. While the messages were certainly heartfelt, they weren't what got fans talking. Right at the end of the video, Mortal Kombat Co-Creator Ed Boon thanks fans, and states that "We're not quite done yet," before a 6-second teaser, presumably for Mortal Kombat 12 plays. Only one thing is shown in this minuscule trailer, and that's sand, which might hold more significance than some fans might think.
The Importance of Sand in Mortal Kombat
The tiny teaser for Mortal Kombat 12 shows a stream of sand falling from the bottom of a metallic object, possibly an hourglass. As the sand falls, the camera zooms in on one individual grain, which cracks, and blows apart, scattering even more grains around it in the process. While it might seem like an insignificant tease, just these few frames might have already given fans a good idea of Mortal Kombat 12's main plot.
Sand appeared throughout Mortal Kombat 11's story, with its main villain, Kronika, being the Keeper of Time and the Architect of History. Kronika is able to manipulate space and time using the literal Sands of Time, which she keeps in a device known as the Hourglass. This Hourglass gives Kronika the ability to alter history, and pull people from across time and space, leading to Mortal Kombat 11's converging timelines. Using the Sands of Time, Kronika also created herself a servant named Geras, an immortal construct also capable of wielding the sand himself. In Mortal Kombat 11's gameplay, Geras' ability to wield the Sands of Time is often used to create weapons, trap opponents, and even blast them back through time.
At the end of Mortal Kombat 11's main story mode, Geras is chained to an anchor by Raiden, and pushed into the Sea of Blood, where he's left to drown for all time. However, in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, Geras returns to aid his master Kronika once more. Geras is last seen when he faces off against Shao Kahn and Sindel, with the former obliterating his Geras' head with his hammer. But while this death seems pretty final, Geras is still immortal, and it's more than possible that this Mortal Kombat 12 teaser is hinting at his return, potentially as the main antagonist.
But another big theory behind the Mortal Kombat 12 teaser's use of sand revolves around the notion of a "New Era." At the end of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, there are two endings to choose from. The first sees Shang Tsung using Kronika's power to conquer all the realms, while the second sees Fire God Liu Kang defeat Shang Tsung, and use Kronika's power to usher in a "New Era," which is essentially a brand-new timeline for the Mortal Kombat universe. So, if the Liu Kang ending is canon, then Mortal Kombat 12 could center around this new timeline, and potentially act as another reboot for the series, which could be hinted at in the teaser trailer when the grain of sand explodes and produces an image that looks almost like the formation of a new galaxy - albeit one made out of sand.
Mortal Kombat 12 is currently in development.