Last night we got another Mortal Kombat 1 reveal, confirming that Geras is back as the guardian of the Hourglass. This time, he's working alongside the new Keeper of Time, Liu Kang, following Kronika's death in the last game.
However, fans think that the trailer also revealed another character - they just have no idea who he is. Always looking for new ways to troll fans, Ed Boon is playing into it too, sharing a screenshot of the mystery man. This has left fans unsure if he's a returning fighter, a new character entirely, or someone of no consequence whatsoever.
The character isn't shown off prominently at all in the trailer, appearing in a group shot of other confirmed characters, like Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kenshi. Alongside the others, he comes from a portal and takes in his surroundings. The only problem is that it's not clear who he is, and he definitely isn't one of the confirmed main roster fighters.
Fans have their theories - especially now that Ed Boon has acknowledged the guy. Many believe that he's Cole Young, the protagonist of the most recent live-action film adaptation. There was talk amongst fans of him appearing in Mortal Kombat 11 as a DLC fighter, but NetherRealm cut ongoing development before this could be made a reality. Now, with different timelines merging, Mortal Kombat 1 could be the perfect opportunity for Cole to make his game debut while keeping the lore intact.
However, he would be an odd choice for the main story, considering it would have to tie into the 2021 movie. He seems more likely to be a Kameo fighter if anything, although it could be that NetherRealm wants to go all-in on promoting the film, especially as it's set to get a sequel soon.
The other candidate is Kai, a character that hasn't appeared in the series since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. He seems more likely to make it onto the main roster than Cole since he's previously fought for Earthrealm in the games. The devs even considered reintroducing him in Mortal Kombat X, so it's clear that he hasn't been forgotten about entirely. That being said, as others are pointing out, this character looks quite different to Kai, so it might not be him either.
There is, of course, a third option - and one that's quite a bit more boring. It could be that he's just a background NPC, and Boon is making fun of us. True, we've looked for hints at what's to come at every single turn, and it hasn't always amounted to something. Maybe this is just some dude. In any case, we can expect more character reveals further down the line, so we'll have to wait and see.