Mortal Kombat X will have guest characters, but Batman won't be one of them

Continuing with a trend for NetherRealm Studios, Mortal Kombat X will feature guest characters from outside of the Mortal Kombat universe, but don't expect any of the superheroes from Injustice to be in that list.

Speaking to Polygon at the Evo 2014 Championship Series this past weekend, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon said that guest characters are almost a certainty.

"Freddy Krueger was the most downloaded character in Mortal Kombat 9," he said. "Scorpion was the guest character in Injustice, and he was the most downloaded character in that game. It's working out for us, and I'd be surprised if we ignored those numbers."

Since Scorpion performed so well in his appearance in Injustice, I asked if one of Injustice's DC Comics superheroes might make its way over to Mortal Kombat X. The answer was an unequivocal no.

"I'd be hard-pressed to have a DC character as a downloadable character in Mortal Kombat X," Boon said. "The main reason is, I have no desire to cut Batman's head off. I have no desire to kill Superman."

Boon was at Evo both to announce Raiden as a playable character for Mortal Kombat X and to support the Injustice tournament happening at the event. He spoke to a broader separation between Injustice and Mortal Kombat, suggesting that NetherRealm is at least hoping to continue the superhero-themed fighting game as its own series.

"Injustice did really well for us, so I would hope that maybe someday we will do another one," Boon said. "There are certain things that I feel are signature to that game... From my perspective, there's the Mortal Kombat universe, where you can do the extreme violence. The Injustice universe is superheroes and more over-the-top stuff as opposed to blood and gore."

Boon also confirmed, much to my dismay, that the PS2-era Motor Kombat mini-game will not be making a return in Mortal Kombat X. Maybe next time.