The highly anticipated reboot for Mortal Kombat has added another fan favorite to the cast of characters with the vampire Nitara to be played by Elissa Cadwell. This reveal comes as a bit of a surprise since she has not been a playable character since 2006 in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, though she did have a cameo in the most recent Mortal Kombat 11.
Nitara is a unique character among the fighters of the Mortal Kombat series because she is a vampire. Her move set is mainly based around blood, which is thematically similar to the character of Skarlet, and that could be a reason we have not seen her in a recent game as a playable character. This is still surprising however, since her character is never depicted as either particularly good or evil, rather she is a manipulator of others to achieve her own goals.
This pulling of the strings for her own ends has been shown many times in previous games. She was able to manipulate Reptile into targeting Cyrax’s ability to travel freely between the realms, which was devastating to Cyrax, but worked to Nitara’s advantage as she offered to help him escape Outworld if he first served her in achieving her goals.
Since Mortal Kombat is going to be treated as a reboot, Nitara may play a similar role of puppet master among the mortal fighters. It would not be unreasonable to see her working in the shadows for her own ends, though given that she has limited story involvement in the previous games in the series, this is pure speculation.
One thing is certain however, and that is that the film’s “R” rating will allow for the more gruesome side of Nitara to come forth. As a vampire, her in-game fatalities could be quite intense, draining her victim of their blood with a savage bite to the neck.
This appears to be Elissa Cadwell’s first role as an actress, as her IMDB page details her involvement in films like Aquaman but working in the stunt side of production. Cadwell joins the already impressive cast of actors in the reboot. Joe Taslim, best known form The Raid series of films will be playing Sub-Zero, Chin Han will be playing Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki will be playing Scorpion, Jessica McNamee takes on the role of Sonya Blade, and Josh Lawson will be playing the cruel and dangerous Kano.
For now, we are left to guess what Nitara might bring to the story, but given her lack of a role in the story for the past ten years, the possibilities are wide open.
Source: Twitter