When it comes to DLC fighters, theMortal Kombatseries generally uses a combination of key characters fromMortal Kombat’shistory, and guest characters from other forms of pop culture that are relevant to that time. WithMortal Kombat 11, the first Kombat Packincluded six new DLC charactersin total with series veterans Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, and Sindel accompanied by a Dark Fate themed Terminator T-800, Spawn, and everybody’s favorite DC villain, the Joker.
It was inevitable that NetherRealm would choose to include at least one DC Comics character forMortal Kombat 11DLC, considering it is owned by Warner Bros. and develops theInjusticeseries, but why not go with a big name hero like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman? With the first four characters in Kombat Pack 1 already available, Joker is the next character to be released in late January 2020, and he’s the perfect fit forMortal Kombat 11DLC. Here’s what we know about the Joker DLC and why he works.
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NetherRealm Studios has a long history with DC Comics and easy access to its characters as the studio is owned by Warner Bros., the parent company of DC Comics. While NetherRealm hasn’t had a DC hero or villain in itsMortal Kombatgames so far, both of theInjusticegames received guest DLC characters from the series with Scorpion having appeared inInjusticeandSub Zero showing up inInjustice 2. TheInjusticeseries also wasn’t the first time DC andMortal Kombathave crossed over. Back in 2008, Warner Bros. Interactive released the fighting gameMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, one year prior to NetherRealm’s complete reboot of the franchise.
Right now, very little is known about theMK11version of the Jokercharacter and how he differs from other iterations. The Joker character is best known as the arch-nemesis of Batman, the clown prince of crime, and one of the most influential and celebrated villains in pop-culture today. As a top-tier supervillain, Joker has done some truly horrific things in DC comics that don’t translate to the big screen very well but could make the character a strong fit for a game likeMortal Kombat 11. Two very notable examples include the murder of Jason Todd/Robin inA Death in the Familyor crippling Barbara Gordon/Bat-Girl inThe Killing Joke.
Whether it’s the Terminatoror Aliens Xenomorph, all ofMortal Kombat’sguest characters generally fit into either the villain or anti-hero category, so immediately it seems unlikely that Warner Bros. would be doing any sort of tie-in for the release ofWonder Woman 1984. With that said, DC and Warner Bros. wouldn’t be too keen to have big-name heroes like Batman or Wonder Woman facing off against Scorpion and being brutally killed by fatalities. It goes against what the characters represent and how they have been portrayed in other media, which makes a supervillain and criminal mastermind like Joker feel like the perfect fit forMK11,a human manifestation of chaos and anarchy.
NetherRealm is yet to reveal any gameplay details for Joker in keeping with previously released characters, so it’s unlikely that a full gameplay trailer will be revealed until two weeks before his release. Ashort teaser trailerfor Joker was shown at The Game Awards earlier this month confirming June 12, 2025, as the release date and showing off the characters redesigned look following fan backlash that claimed the original design looked more like cosplay than a fitting artistic interpretation to the same level of quality asInjustice 2.
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Of all the available characters on DC’s long roster of heroes and villains, The Joker makes the most sense in the current pop culture and video game climate. Like Batman, there seems to be no end in sight for the popularity of the character, having been featured prominently in theBatman Arkhamseries, bothInjusticegames, theSuicide Squadmovie, and hisown solo Joker filmstarring Academy Award-nominated actor, Joaquin Phoenix. If there was ever a time to capitalize on the Joker’s popularity and success, it’s now.
After nearly three decades, theMortal Kombatfranchise is at the absolute top of its game. Releasing back in April, NetherRealm has previously stated thatMK11had the strongest launch of any release in the franchise so far, and has continued to remain one of the highest-selling games of 2019, only surpassed byCall of Duty: Modern Warfare, NBA 2K20, Madden NFL 20,andBorderlands 3. With just shy of a month left until the release of Joker, NetherRealm plans to supportMK11for years to come through the two remaining Kombat Pack 1 characters and asecond Kombat Pack of DLC fighterson the way.
Mortal Kombat 11is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
