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PlayStation.Blog: So what is the inspiration for bringing Freddy Krueger to Mortal Kombat as a DLC character?

Ed Boon, Creative Director, Netherrealm Studios: It was a number of things. It’s kind of hard to choose a character who would fit well into the Mortal Kombat universe, with the blood and violence that’s so associated with it. Kratos from God of War is a brutal, bloody character, so he makes sense. When we had the discussions about the DLC characters, we knew that we wanted to add a returning character, a new character, but also a guest character. That was one of the goals right from the beginning. A number of names were run by us: Jason, Michael Myers and all those guys. Freddy Kreuger, we felt, was the most instantly recognizable and he fits in with Mortal Kombat with his claws. It just seemed like the best fit.

PSB: Did you base Freddy off the 80s films or the reboot movie from a few years back?

EB: Well…that’s a good question. We didn’t try to make him look like the actor Robert Englund, I don’t even know if we would be allowed to….Admittedly, I didn’t see the latest movie, the remake. But obviously the first few movies were huge — they left an undeniable mark on pop culture. When I look at him, I think of the original Freddy: he’s got the striped sweater and is instantly recognizable. He’s Freddy in general, we don’t really identify him as one version or another.