Megan Fox isn't just the voice of Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1, she's pretty good at playing Mortal Kombat games too
NetherRealm Studios hit fans with a surprise announcement yesterday by revealing not only that Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance's Nitara is making her grand return in Mortal Kombat 1, but also that her likeness and voice is being portrayed by none other than world famous actress Megan Fox.
In the reveal trailer, Fox can be seen acting out lines and talking about her collaboration with the Mortal Kombat series. What you might not know, though, is that Fox isn't just playing Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1, but she's actually got quite a bit of experience playing the games in the franchise as well — and she's pretty good too.
"I think it's just an opportunity that anybody would want because we did all grow up playing the game," said Megan Fox about her role as Nitara in the reveal trailer. "And it is one of the greatest video games of all time."
Needless to say, Fox is a big Mortal Kombat fan. Over the years, we've seen plenty of celebrities get involved with our niche video game genre here, and it's generally pretty clear which of them are actual fans and play these games and which are in it just for the job (and there's nothing wrong with that).
Fox, however, falls into the former category. In a 2009 interview with What They Play (via Kotaku), Fox detailed how far her love of Mortal Kombat actually goes.
"Anything Mortal Kombat. I have that down and I don't cheat," said Fox when discussing what video games she plays. "That game just works well with my brain. The way my brain fires signals works well with how that game works. And I'm just really good."
At the time the interview was conducted, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was the latest major Mortal Kombat game out on the shelves. She continued on to explain how she disliked playing as Superman in that title because his "combos were so weird."
"The Mortal Kombat that just came out (Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe), I hated playing as Superman," Fox explained. "His combos were so weird. I don't know, I just thought it was lame."
The fact that Megan was talking about how combos feel is a pretty solid indicator that she actually understands what's going on in fighting games. Generally when a celebrity talks about their role in a fighting game, they mention that they played the game growing up, but you typically don't hear specific fighting game terms like "combos" thrown around — and certainly not how they "feel."
But Megan Fox's Mortal Kombat experience goes beyond just a single interview. In 2014, Fox sat down with MTV's Josh Horowitz to run some Mortal Kombat 9.
In the match, Fox plays Scorpion while Horowitz rocks Baraka. Though Megan does look a little green here, she does note that she's used to playing the game on Xbox and that she doesn't know the buttons for PlayStation — which is what they were playing on.
Despite this, we can see Fox pulling of combo strings, going for anti-air uppercuts, and making comments about special moves and Fatalities.
Interestingly enough, just a couple of years after her playing MK9 on MTV, Fox shared her interest in playing as Kitana in a Mortal Kombat film with CinePop.
"I've thought of Kitana from Mortal Kombat, if they ever make that movie again," Fox said. "I always loved her with the blades and the fans."
Now, here we are in 2023 and Megan Fox is playing as Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1.
Mortal Kombat 1 is set for early access release on September 14 for those who purchase the Premium Edition of the game. It will launch for everyone on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 19.
