Pre-production is gearing up on the long-in-development reboot of Mortal Kombat. Variety reports that Ludi Lin, who recently played a fighter in a Mortal Kombat-inspired game in Black Mirror, is in talks to play the role of Liu Kang. Liu Kang has been a staple of the Mortal Kombat franchise since it debuted in 1992 and was the hero of the original Mortal Kombat films that were released in 1995 and 1997.

Here’s a brief description of the character from the Mortal Kombat wiki:

Liu Kang is one of the most popular and accessible characters in the series. He is one of Earthrealm’s greatest warriors, having defeated many to prove his valor. Throughout the series, he has been gradually portrayed as the main hero, becoming champion after the first Mortal Kombat tournament. Kang has found a nemesis in the traitorous Shang Tsung, a sorcerer who he has defeated on numerous occasions. He is often considered the greatest threat to the plans of Shang and his emperor, Shao Kahn. He is a member of the White Lotus Society and trains extensively at the Wu Shi Academy.

There are currently no plot details on the upcoming movie, which is produced by James Wan and produced by commercial director Simon McQuoid. The new version is expected to hit theaters in March 2021 and will start filming later this year in Adelaide where it’s expected to be one of the biggest productions in South Australia’s history.

As for where Mortal Kombat goes from here, one would have to assume that they’re going to make this thing rated R. Usually I try not to get hung up on ratings, but we’ve already done a PG-13 Mortal Kombat, it was fine, but if you want to do something different and follow that audience, you can’t try to thread the needle and also invite tweens to the party. Mortal Kombat is, and has always been, a ridiculously gory game. It’s action-horror, and a movie would be wise to follow suit, so I’ll be curious to see what Wan and McQuoid have in store.