It seems safe to say that NetherRealm Studios has gone all out with its upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath expansion, shocking the world with its initial teaser and more expansive announcement trailer. What’s more, MK11’s Aftermath release date is less than three weeks away, and players will get to see how the story continues.
However, perhaps the most interesting decision is to launch 3 DLC characters on the same day, especially given how space out the initial Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack was. It seems likely this release schedule was due to development on Aftermath, and the only real way to follow up the beloved Spawn addition is with quantity. Fans are no doubt excited to see RoboCop, Sheeva, and Fujin join the fighting game, but at the same time, one key DLC character (who was first teased alongside Sheeva and Fujin) is missing: Ash Williams.
Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath and the Leaks that Led to It
Despite the Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath reveal being so astounding, it’s not like it was a secret. In fact, it may be NetherRealm’s worst kept secret at this point. The DLC seems set to utilize the KP1 characters such as Sindel and Nightwolf in a new time-traveling plot to steal Kronika’s crown alongside Shang Tsung, something that seems like an unwise decision. Joining Shang Tsung, Fire God Liu Kang, and now-mortal Raiden are three new DLC characters: Fujin, Sheeva, and Robocop.
Before its reveal, though, Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath was leaked on the internet, as was the inclusion of Robocop. Prior to this, Fujin, Sheeva, and Ash Williams were also leaked from an incredibly reliable source (one that was correct about the entire first Kombat Pack). Mortal Kombat 11’s Aftermath leak only suggested it was something similar to Mortal Kombat XL, not doing much more than confirming its existence. However, although initially thought to be unconnected, the Robocop datamine/leak followed it.
Looking at the Robocop leak now makes a lot of sense; the character was close to Sheeva, after all. It also listed new cinematics for Takeda and Stryker, who themselves have leaked in some regard beforehand. What this seems to suggest is that Takeda and Stryker are likely to follow at some point as a result, while this also dispels several other leaks like the Havik and Micheal Myers leaks. It remains to be seen, but this all bodes well for Ash Williams’ eventual inclusion alongside newcomer Takeda and veteran Stryker.
Mortal Kombat 11: Ash Williams
Even still, Ash Williams has always been in a sort of strange boat when it comes to Mortal Kombat 11 DLC. The aforementioned leak that got every single KP1 character right also accurately predicted Sheeva and Fujin, leaving only RoboCop off now and including Ash Williams. The curiosity comes in the fact that a MK11 advertisement was seen by many which included Ash Williams as part of the first Kombat Pack, yet actor Bruce Campbell denied Ash Williams’ involvement at the time. Sometime after this, many took Campbell’s words to mean that it was the Army of Darkness version of the character, not Evil Dead, that would join the fray.
More recently, Bruce Campbell commented on MK11 Ash Williams DLC again, stating that his agent hasn’t spoken to him about it. This may suggest a final deal has yet to be reached or a licensing dispute may be under way, but once again, that seems strange. After all, assuming this is indeed the case, why did he appear in the aforementioned ad and why did the original leaker include him? There’s certainly a variety of answers to these questions, but ultimately, it’s hard to say whether Ash or not comes to fruition as a MK11 DLC character.
That said, there’s plenty of reasons to not dismiss his inclusion yet. Bruce Campbell did not say that his agent hadn’t heard anything about it or that it was hard pass by the companies involved, just that the agent had not spoken to him about it. Still an odd scenario, but not impossible. Furthermore, Aftermath and the aforementioned Mortal Kombat 11 leaks point to an incredibly similar pattern to KP1.
KP1 included Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, Terminator, Sindel, Joker, and Spawn: 3 returning Mortal Kombat characters, 3 guest characters. Considering the RoboCop leak also listed two other characters, Takeda and Stryker, it’s possible Aftermath is just a big bang to be followed by a smaller Kombat Pack (or another full-blown expansion if we’re lucky?). Either way, Sheeva, Fujin, RoboCop, Takeda, Ash Williams, and Stryker, as leaked, would be 4/2 and not a far cry of the first Kombat Pack.
It may be approached differently, but the pattern is still there, meaning Ash Williams couldn’t be counted out just yet. The first Kombat Pack ended on the absolute bombshell that is Spawn, and it would make sense to end this new run of DLC characters (assuming Aftermath is just the start) on another big name. It hardly gets bigger than Ash Williams when it comes to Mortal Kombat 11 rumors, leaks, and speculation, and while Aftermath is a big kickstart, there’s a good chance the other three characters would follow some time after.
As such, and should the stars actually align, Ash Williams may come to Mortal Kombat 11 yet.
Mortal Kombat 11 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
