Conan The Barbarian Is The Next Rumored Character For Mortal Kombat 1

Mortal Kombat fans have had a lot to talk about in the past couple of days, and it appears there’s another emerging topic for discourse now. After the rumor of Homelander and Peacemaker allegedly claiming a spot on the roster of the next Mortal Kombat game, there’s another iconic figure that could be rushing his way to Mortal Kombat 1, as Jez Corden has claimed while sitting down for an Xbox Two podcast episode. 

If you skip to the 2:29:28 timestamp in the video above, you’ll find Jez Corden—a credible industry insider—saying the following regarding the upcoming reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise. According to him, Conan the Barbarian will be a part of the overall set of fighters of Mortal Kombat 1. 

There’s also a few other characters I know about. I’ve heard Conan the Barbarian might be a character.” 

To this, the host of the show inquired whether this would be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan. For the uninitiated, the former Californian governor has played the character of the legendary barbarian warrior, whose lore is followed by acts of valor, brutal killings, and redemption. Jez followed up by replying, 

I don’t know if it’s [the] Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan or just the book version of Conan the Barbarian. I mean, it’s kind of weird because some of these characters exist in different formats and different properties, right?”

Jez tops it off by saying that he’s not sure about some of the stuff concerning Mortal Kombat 1, so do take his words with a pinch of salt. Moreover, it’s also been reported that a reveal is coming “soon” and fans will just have to wait until they get to see the game in the flesh. The folks on the podcast speculate that the Mortal Kombat 1 reveal could come right after the rumored PlayStation Showcase, which is slated to happen later this month. 

For the uninitiated, the developers have already teased the next Mortal Kombat game, and much to the fans’ surprise, the latest iteration does not follow the nomenclature of the previous line-up. As a matter of fact, the new game is all set to be titled Mortal Kombat 1, thereby coming across as a reboot of the series with modern-day video game development tech. 

It is almost time. #MortalKombat pic.twitter.com/eVwIcbVthq

— Mortal Kombat 30 (@MortalKombat) May 10, 2023

Come to think of it, Mortal Kombat 11’s story events do point toward something like an actual Mortal Kombat 1 happening inside the in-game universe. Beware though, you’re approaching spoiler territory from here on out. The title’s plotline features the story timeline getting rebooted following the actions of the antagonist, leaving Liu Kang and Raiden to construct their world right from the get-go all over again.

This throws the mainline characters centuries of years in the past, thereby receding to the default settings of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Mortal Kombat 1 could allegedly strive to build upon the foundation laid out by Mortal Kombat 11, therefore, as the story of Conan takes place in one of those dated years just as well. Anyhow, timeline hopping is no difficult construct to tackle for Kombat characters. The official reveal can’t come soon enough.