Following the official first take a look at Karl City Johnny Cage within the live-action Mortal Kombat 2 film, extra particulars on the movie, its characters, and the excessive stakes for EarthRealm have been revealed. 2021’s Mortal Kombat set the stage for an Outworld invasion, and after EarthRealm’s chosen fighters efficiently defeated Shang Tsung and his forces, the sequel will see them conflict with Emperor Shao Kahn’s forces in a match to resolve the destiny of the realms.
As talked about above, Johnny Cage is a brand new face within the EarthRealm crowd, and he’ll be the point-of-view character within the sequel. Whereas the present Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat video games is primarily performed as a former A-list motion star who cannot cease making film references, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon says that the brand new live-action incarnation will really feel “recent” in a number of methods.
Our ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ unique first look reveals Johnny Cage, Kitana, Shao Kahn, and Scorpion’s return. ‘What I noticed was go larger, go bolder, do not maintain again,’ director Simon McQuoid tells EW. https://t.co/tHSSHgTKNw
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“His integration into the Mortal Kombat story and universe is a giant a part of what this film explores. He is a washed-up Hollywood man thrown into this magical, ultra-violent factor. Karl, his depiction of Johnny Cage is completely different than our video games in some methods,” Boon mentioned to Leisure Weekly. “He is including his personal flare to it, however I feel it will really feel recent. There’s like a novelty consider there.”
Different newcomers in Mortal Kombat 2 embody Adeline Rudolph (Netflix’s Resident Evil collection) as Princess Kitana, Damon Herriman (Higher Man) as NetherRealm sorcerer Quan Chi, and Martyn Ford (These About to Die) as Shao Kahn. They will be becoming a member of Ludi Lin, Lewis Tan, Mehcad Brooks, Jessica McNamee, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Josh Lawson, and Max Huang, who’re all reprising their roles from the primary movie.
Huang and Lawson–who performed Kung Lao and Kano, respectively–met grisly ends in Mortal Kombat, however Boon teased that the prevailing lore of Mortal Kombat gave the 2 fan-favorite characters a backdoor to come back again from the useless. Boon additionally teased just a few twists within the story, and director Simon McQuiod mentioned that filming sure scenes in IMAX allowed the movie to be even “bolder” than the primary film. “What I noticed was go larger, go bolder, do not maintain again, and actually feed off the historical past of Mortal Kombat extra,” McQuoid mentioned. “Simply let it rip, and that is what we have finished.”
Mortal Kombat 2 will hit theaters on October 24, and as an added bonus for followers of the online game supply materials, new movie-accurate skins of Johnny Cage, Princess Kitana, and Shao Kahn might be added later this 12 months to Mortal Kombat 1.