The new Mortal Kombat film wasn’t afraid to lean into the video game references. But one favourite, ‘toasty’, was cut from the final edit.
Toasty has been an important part of Mortal Kombat lore since the second game released back in 1993.
It originated as a in-joke between the developers that found its way into the game as an Easter Egg.
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Whenever a player delivered a particularly brutal uppercut, a picture of designer Dan Forden would appear on screen to yell ‘toasty’ in a falsetto voice.
Toasty continued to appear in the sequels, including the most recent entry into the series, Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019.
Toasty Didn’t Make The Mortal Kombat Cut
Considering its place in the mythos, it’s unsurprising that fans were hoping for a nod to toasty in the new film.
Screenwriter Greg Russo told Polygon that he tried to get ‘toasty’ in the movie.
“I worked really hard to get the line ‘Toasty!’ in there… it had a spot in the story that didn’t feel cringe, like it worked,” Russo told Polygon.
According to Russo this scene was even filmed. While original toasty man Dan Forden didn’t make an appearance, the line was reportedly given to Liu Kang after another character was “eviscerated.”
But unfortunately, the scene was cut during post-production.
This is definitely a shame, especially if we are to believe that the cringe factor was minimal. After all, the movie didn’t shy away from shoving other iconic Mortal Kombat phrases in there, even when they were ham fisted.
A perfected example is a scene where Kung Lao saws Nitara in half with his signature hat. The takedown is punctuated with a declaration of “flawless victory”.
This is a callback to the games where a player is bestowed with a ‘flawless victory’ if they win without taking any damage.
It seemed very silly in the context of the movie, but also isn’t that the whole point? It’s Mortal Kombat, after all.
But perhaps there is hope for the future. There are rumours of a sequel, so maybe we’ll all be able to get toasty then.