After leaving audiences hanging on the tease of his impending sequel arrival, the first look at Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage inMortal Kombat 2has been revealed. Cage had been set up in the first movie’s ending, with Lewis Tan’s Cole Young heading off to Hollywood to recruit him for Earthrealm’s fight against the forces of Outworld. Urban was revealed to be lining up to jointheMortal Kombat 2castas Johnny in May 2023, with filming running from June that year to January 2024 after it was suspended due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
With just over eight months remaining until the movie’s release, the officialMortal KombatTwitter account has shared a new poster forMortal Kombat 2. The posterreveals the official first look at Urban’s Johnny Cage, putting him front and center for a fake movie entitledUncaged Fury, while the caption hails “It’s Johnny ******* Cage.” Check out the poster below:
What The Mortal Kombat 2 Poster Means For Johnny Cage
Urban Continues The First Movie’s Biggest Strength
Urban’s Johnny Cagehas been one of the most talked-about elements ofMortal Kombat 2even prior to his casting,given his absence from the first film. That said, the first poster is sure to not only come as a welcome reminder he will be back and part of the main roster in the sequel, but is also continuing one of the better-received elements of the 2021 reboot in delivering game-accurate representations of the various characters involved.
While the sequel tag inthe firstMortal Kombat’s endingcertainly promised that Cage would at least look the part from the waist down, fans of both Urban and the games wondered whether they would also give his incarnation his iconic blonde locks and shave his beard,both of which the poster assures have become the case. Now, with Johnny having a wide range of costumes throughout the games, as he goes from action movie star to military leader, it will be interesting to see which the filmmakers have him don. Given the poster amplifies his movie star status, the former seems the more likely.
Mortal Kombat 2’s Johnny Cage Actor Is Not What Anyone Would’ve Expected, And That Makes It Even More Exciting
Mortal Kombat 2021’s Johnny Cage tease immediately had people wondering who would be playing the iconic character, but the choice was unexpected.
One of the more hidden elements to come from theMortal Kombat 2poster is the cast list situated at the bottom of the image,most notably that Hiroyuki Sanada, Joe Taslim, Tadanobu Asano and Chin Han are all listed in the “with” portion. Though not always the case, this portion of the cast list is generally reserved for actors who may not have held a big role in the project at hand. In the 2021 movie, Sanada, Taslim and Han were given similar billing, though Asano was not, potentially indicating the focus won’t be as much on them.
Our Take On The First Look At Karl Uban’s Johnny Cage
Mortal Kombat 2 Is Already On The Right Track
As much as I love Urban, I can’t deny there was a part of me that wondered if he would be the right fit for Johnny Cage, and I’m glad that theMortal Kombat 2poster has immediately put my fears to rest by showcasing the game-accurate look he’s got. The cast list seemingly confirming thatSanada’s Scorpion is yet againgoing to be underutilized in the sequel does make me a little disappointed, but if Jeremy Slater and Simon McQuoid can find a similarly impactful way to include him in a small dose, I can forgive this.
Mortal Kombat II
Cast
Mortal Kombat II: A sequel to the 2021 film Mortal Kombat, this movie continues the saga of Earth’s champions as they face new threats from the Outworld. Building on the original’s mythical universe, the film delves deeper into the lore of the Mortal Kombat tournament and its legendary fighters.
