When Ed Boon, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat, appeared on stage at Summer Game Fest to reveal Mortal Kombat 1, he mentioned that Johnny Cage would get Jean-Claude Van Damme skin. Since that announcement, the anticipation has been high but even when new characters were revealed, we never saw the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin.
If you are one of those yearning to have a glimpse of the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin, then this post will excite you. In continuation of the promotion of the upcoming game, Ed Boon joined Sean Evans of First We Feast on the episode Hot Ones to talk about Mortal Kombat 1.
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Unlike other games in the franchise, Mortal Kombat 1 will feature numerous Hollywood stars including John Cena as Peacemaker, J.K Simmons as Omni-Man, and Antony Starr as Homelander. A few days ago, Megan Fox was also announced to be the voice behind Nitara. In addition to lending their voices, the game characters will also bear the likeness of the superstars.
What makes Jean-Claude Van Damme skin special?
While a rich Hollywood cast will be coming to Mortal Kombat 1, Boon has often singled out Jean-Claude Van Damme skin. So, why does the Belgian martial artist and actor hold a special place in the franchise?
According to Boon, the studio’s initial plan was to develop a Van Damme game which was supposed to be called Van Damme: The Arcade Game—before Mortal Kombat became a sensation. In other words, the Van Damme DLC was “30 years in the making”.
“We actually wanted to see the words ‘Van Damme’. Bloodsport was big, and so was Universal Soldiers, I think,” Boon explained. “So, we called his people, and we were like ‘we want to make a game based on Van Damme’, and I don’t know if he declined or just never got to him or something like that.”
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Boon said the negative response did not deter them and they tried a couple more times “going back and forth with him”. It was only recently that they got the answer they desperately yearned for.
“We actually have his voice and he’s going to be the Johnny Cage character, and it’s the absolute full circle moment that we had,” Boon said.
At exactly 5:52 minutes into the interview, we were greeted with a Jean-Claude Van Damme skin of Johnny Cage. However, one thing that we noticed was that skin wore the likeness of Van Damme’s younger self. Perhaps, NetherRealm went back in time to the movies that Boon referred to and framed Van Damme’s likeness from there.
It was really hilarious watching Jean-Claude Van Damme skin rolling up the middle finger just like Johnny Cage does. Players that purchase the Premium edition of Mortal Kombat 1 will get the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin as a perk as well as Shang Tsung, 1,250 Dragon Krystals, and a week of early access.
It is only days before the launch of Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 is a product of NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. It is scheduled for global release on 19 September 2023. The game will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Epic Games Store and Steam, and Nintendo Switch. You can pre-order it on Amazon.
A DLC for the game was announced months back and will include six characters namely Homelander, Peacemaker, Takeda, Ermac, Omni Man, and Quan Chi. Mortal Kombat 1 is a reboot of the franchise and also the first time that the franchise will include Kameo characters.
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In the Hot Ones challenge, Boon who is the voice behind Scorpion’s “get over here!” was visibly struggling with the special five-wing gauntlet. See the video below.
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