Warner Bros. just landed a blood-splattered one-two combo: glossy character posters and the first trailer for Mortal Kombat II, the follow-up to 2021’s surprisingly solid video game-based film.
According to Deadline, the marketing push puts The Boys’ own Karl Urban front and center as Hollywood diva-turned-head-kicker Johnny Cage—sunglasses reflecting explosions, ego dialed to eleven. Right behind him is Mehcad Brooks, flexing cyber-enhanced biceps as Jax, fresh off Supergirl and Law & Order supremacy.
The sequel ditches the first film’s newbie-focused detour and dives straight into the franchise’s bread and butter: the Outworld-versus-Earthrealm tournament of blood-soaked champions, where “finish him” is the company mantra. Co-creator Ed Boon promises the fights matter, telling Entertainment Weekly, “There’s a visual representation of who is winning… huge consequences, so you really are keeping score.”
Survivors also return: Lewis Tan’s Cole Young, Hiroyuki Sanada’s vengeful Scorpion, Joe Taslim’s ice-cold Sub-Zero, Jessica McNamee’s no-nonsense Sonya Blade, Ludi Lin’s Liu Kang, Brooks’ Jax, and Tadanobu Asano’s lightning god Raiden.
In pure Mortal Kombat fashion, even the dead are resurrected as Kano (Josh Lawson) and Kung Lao (Max Huang) stroll back into the bracket. Expect the film to introduce “revenants,” or the undead fallen fighters.
Meanwhile, Adeline Rudolph whips out the steel fan as Kitana, bodybuilding giant Martyn Ford swings the hammer as Shao Kahn, and, of course, Cage mugs for the camera every chance he gets. The pivot puts his B-movie swagger at the center of the story, a neat counterpunch to Street Fighter’s own Hollywood reboot.
Even though the movie is called Mortal Kombat II, the actual video games on the market are all the way up to Mortal Kombat 12. Still, expect fans to line up outside the theaters when the film drops on October 24.
Whatever happens, bet on Cage to drop the last punchline.