What’s more awesome than Omni-Man joining Mortal Kombat 1? J.K. Simmons, the voice behind the Invincible character, returning to play the Viltrumite powerhouse in the NetherRealm Studios reboot!
Omni-Man’s arrival in Mortal Kombat 1 was confirmed over the weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Shortly afterwards, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon, revealed in a live stream that Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons will reprise his role as the voice of Omni-Man. Simmons, who’s best known as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man universe, has previously voiced his role in the early versions of the Spider-Man games.
Invincible’s creator, Robert Kirkman, also disclosed that the scene in Episode 1, where Omni-Man slaughters the Guardians, was inspired by Mortal Kombat fatalities, saying:
Yeah, I was in the fatality meetings, I was in the voice recording sessions, and it was great because… I mean, look, when I did that sequence at the end of the first episode of the Invincible with Omni-Man just eviscerating the Guardians of the Globe, you know, that’s me trying do to my best Mortal Kombat fatalities. I went into that meeting on the fatalities for Omni-Man, and I get to brainstorm with these people and come up with some cool fatalities. And then they started presenting things to me, and it was like ‘Oh! I’m but a student, and these are the masters.’
Kirkman, known for his work on The Walking Dead series, further credited the Mortal Kombat franchise for influencing his career.
Q: Do we partially have Ed [Boon] to thank for Invincible existing that way?
Kirkman: Oh, a hundred percent! I mean, there’s Mortal Kombat in the DNA of everything that I’ve done.
Q: Even Walking Dead?
Kirkman: Oh my God, yeah!
Gamers love it when voice actors return to their respective roles in video game franchises. Take the late Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. He reprised his role in various Batman games, including the Batman: Arkham series, which played a big role in their critical success.
As of writing, there’s no confirmation yet whether John Cena and Antony Starr will voice their Peacemaker and Homelander roles in Mortal Kombat 1.
Mortal Kombat 1 is set to launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam on September 19.
Invincible fans can look forward to more Omni-Man battles on November 3, when the second season is set to premiere.
