Mortal Kombat 1's story director, Dominic Cianciolo, has confirmed during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con that Kuai Liang is Scorpion in the new timeline.
One of the most interesting things about Mortal Kombat 1 is how much it's changing the identities and backgrounds of many of its central characters. Whether it's making Raiden a human, Kenshi a former Yakuza, or Mileena next in line for the throne, almost every returning character here is different from how they've been in the past.
The character that has changed the most, however, is undoubtedly Scorpion. Rather than being an undead spectre and rival to Sub-Zero, the pair are actually brothers in the same clan. That's a big enough change as it is, but fans have suspected since the game was announced that it might not be the biggest one, as many have speculated that Scorpion in this new timeline is Kuai Liang and not Hanzo Hazashi like he was in previous eras.
Some of the evidence towards this theory has been his relationship with Smoke, his much kinder demeanour, and the fact he's directly related to Bi-Han, as well as how hard NetherRealm has been trying to hide his name in character bios. Well, all of you theorists out there should give yourself a big pat on the back, as the theory has seemingly been confirmed by the game's story director, Dominic Cianciolo, in an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con.
During the interview, Scorpion and Sub-Zero's relationship is mentioned several times as one of the big new things about this universe. Then, when talking about Smoke, Cianciolo brings it up once more and notes that Smoke is a cause of tension between Sub-Zero and Scorpion, who he ends up name-dropping as Kuai Liang, outright confirming the theory.
Cianciolo said, "Smoke is very similar to what we've seen before. The big difference is that we're playing up the relationship that he has with Kuai Liang, Scorpion, and it is taking that relationship and deepening it and fitting that into that whole brother dynamic. He's the adoptive brother of Sub-Zero and Scorpion, and it really levels up their conflicts and their relationships."
After mentioning Kuai Liang, Cianciolo seems to briefly lose track of what he was saying for a second, which might point to it being an accidental reveal. Now that the theory has seemingly been confirmed, it does raise even more questions about how Kuai Liang managed to get fire powers instead of his typical ice abilities, and what times means for Hanzo Hazashi in this timeline.