Johnny Cage Makes a Comeback in Mortal Kombat II

Karl Urban is dropping the butcher’s coat from The Boys and slipping into a pair of shades in the upcoming Mortal Kombat II. The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek veteran will play Johnny Cage, the cocksure martial arts film star of the long-running video game series. The sequel to Warner Bros.’ 2021 reboot of the franchise, Mortal Kombat II, will be the fourth live-action film since the original 1995 release.

Filmmakers released the first trailer just one day after Warner Bros. shared a fake in-universe trailer for Uncaged Fury, a cheesy, ‘90s-style action movie “starring” Johnny Cage. That parody trailer also teased Cage’s other in-universe filmography, including titles like Cool Hand Cage, Hard to Cage, and Rebel Without a Cage.

2025 will also mark 30 years since the release of the first live-action Mortal Kombat, which bombed with critics at the time of its release but was a box office hit and has since developed a passionate cult following. Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa’s performance as the sorcerer Shang Tsung is still seen by many as the best version of the character. The original’s 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, is considered one of the biggest bombs in film history, performing poorly with both critics and audiences and leading the game’s publisher, Midway, into bankruptcy.

The studio eventually sold the rights to Warner Bros., who would hire Simon McQuoid to reboot the series over two decades after the original. Lewis Tan introduced audiences to the MMA fighter Cole Young, who gets caught in a battle for the planet Earthrealm in the 2021 Mortal Kombat. The film received mixed reviews but was successful enough with audiences to earn a sequel, once again helmed by McQuoid. The first film ended with Cole Young being sent to Los Angeles to recruit Johnny Cage, setting up the story of Mortal Kombat II.

The synopsis for Mortal Kombat II assumes viewers have already seen the first film. After forming a diverse group of champions in the first film, the new sequel sees the group—including Johnny Cage—battle for all-out, no-holds-barred action to stop Shao Kahn from invading and conquering Earthrealm. The very existence of Earthrealm is on the line in this fight.

Lewis Tan (Cole Young), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Joe Taslim (Bi-Han/Noob Saibot a.k.a. Sub-Zero), Tadanobu Asano (Lord Raiden), Josh Lawson (Kano), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Mehcad Brooks (Jax Briggs), Chin Han (Shang Tsung), Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion), and Max Huang (Kung Lao) all return from the previous film.

The sequel also has several new additions to the cast, including Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Tati Gabrielle (Jade), Damon Herriman (Kabal, vo) who will appear as Quan Chi, Martyn Ford (Shao Kahn), CJ Bloomfield (Baraka), Desmond Chiam (King Jerrod), and Ana Thu Nguyen (Queen Sindel).

The trailer first gives viewers a good look at Mortal Kombat’s new Johnny Cage. When Cage first appears in a dingy bar, he is recognized by one of the patrons. “I loved Citizen Cage as a kid,” the young fan enthuses, “They should do a reboot!” To this, a bitter Cage responds that “nobody wants that,” because the type of films he stars in died out in the 1990s.

Lord Raiden and Sonya Blade soon show up to break up Cage’s pity party to inform him, “You have been chosen to fight.” At first, Cage assumes the pair are just overenthusiastic fans before he’s sent to another dimension, where he’s told he’s been chosen for an “interdimensional fighting tournament to the death.” To this, he deadpans, “F— that.” Cage points out that he is “not superpowered” before he caves and agrees to fight to protect Earthrealm. He does, however, warn his future opponents not to mangle his face. The trailer then provides fans of the video game with exactly what they expect, starting with a beatdown, classic finishing moves, and the signature catchphrases, such as Scorpion’s “Get over here!”

The film looks like it will certainly play well with franchise fans thanks to its mixture of over-the-top violence and a winkingly self-aware take on the action stars, including Cage. Time will tell if the film can draw in viewers beyond core Mortal Kombat fans, but at least the new installment is not holding back on the absurdity.

Mortal Kombat II will arrive in theaters on October 24, 2025.