Mortal Kombat Reboot Is Missing Kano’s Eye Plate (Why?)
Hardened criminal turned tournament combatant Kano is a fan-favorite Mortal Kombat character, but he's missing a vital adornment in the new film. Kano first appeared in the inaugural Mortal Kombat game in 1992, and was quickly established as the nemesis of special forces operative Sonya Blade, and later her superior officer Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Kano was a member of the powerful international crime syndicate known as the Black Dragon, before moving on to become one of Outworld leader Shao Kahn's top lieutenants.
While Kano's hairline and facial hair style have changed a few times over the course of the Mortal Kombat franchise, one constant has always been the presence of his bionic eye. The eye is a cybernetic implant that allows Kano to see in infrared vision, among other abilities, such as firing a laser quite hazardous to anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path. Kano is a vicious brawler in tournament fights, and is ever too happy to "finish" off his opponents.
However, Kano is missing something in the first look photo of him from the new Mortal Kombat movie. His bionic eye is usually affixed by a steel plate surrounding it, and that's nowhere to be seen in the photo. Is there a reason for this change? We have some ideas.
While those involved with the new Mortal Kombat movie haven't explained why Kano's trademark steel eye plate appears to be missing in action, it's quite possible the change is tied to another big alteration for Kano. According to the movie's official plot synopsis, Kano is working with Raiden's side to try and defend Earth from Outworld, at least to start. While he's still described as a rogue mercenary, it's unclear how close to video game Kano he'll be. Perhaps the plate will be added to correspond with the point in the story where the usually treacherous Kano flips to the side of Shang Tsung, despite it possibly dooming mankind.
There's also rumors floating around that the plate is actually now under Kano's skin, and so it'll be dramatically revealed at some point during a fight when his face gets damaged. On a more practical line of thought, it's possible the filmmakers thought they could save time and money creating a prosthetic or CGI eye plate by simply adding facial scars to the same area of Kano's face as a sort of short hand. Whatever the case may be, Kano doesn't currently look quite right, and most Mortal Kombat fans don't seem happy with the changes.