Mortal Kombat 2: First Look at Johnny Cage and More Big Reveals
With the first glimpse of Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2 now out, fans have even more to be excited about as new details emerge about the upcoming sequel. One of the biggest surprises? The confirmed return of Josh Lawson and Max Huang, despite their characters, Kano and Kung Lao, having died in the 2021 film.
Mortal Kombat co-creator and NetherRealm Studios head Ed Boon teased the unexpected comeback of these characters in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, hinting at a deeper connection to the franchise’s lore.
“I can say Josh Lawson doesn’t play Kano’s twin,” Boon revealed. He pointed to the long-standing Mortal Kombat mythology to explain how their return makes sense. “We’ve killed a number of characters who are in Mortal Kombat 1 and our latest games. So we deal with spirits, the NetherRealm, and things like that. There are ways to bring dead characters back.”
Returning and New Faces
Alongside Lawson’s Kano and Huang’s Kung Lao, Mortal Kombat 2 also brings back Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, and Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade. The sequel also introduces new characters, including:
- Tati Gabrielle as Jade
- Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel
- Damon Herriman as Quan Chi
Director Simon McQuoid emphasized that the sequel aims to elevate every aspect of the original film. “We worked to maximize everything—build on where we were and make it significantly more intense, bigger in scale, bigger in variation, bigger across the board as a cinematic experience,” McQuoid told EW.
“We go to lots of different realms, so that in itself gives the film a very distinct and varied visual approach,” McQuoid added. “What I realized was: go bigger, go bolder, don’t hold back, and really feed off the history of Mortal Kombat more. Just let it rip, and that’s what we’ve done.”
First Look at Johnny Cage, Kitana, and Shao Kahn
Entertainment Weekly’s first-look photos showcase the new additions to the Mortal Kombat universe, including:
- Karl Urban as Johnny Cage
- Adeline Rudolph as Kitana
- Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn
In one image, Cage prepares for a fight, with Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) watching from a distance. McQuoid teased that Cage will bring “some of the biggest laughs” in the film.
“We wanted a character that wasn’t just completely silly, comic book,” McQuoid explained. “It’s a character that could instantly go there and become too light and throwaway if we leaned too much into the kind of cheese. The casting of Karl Urban allowed that character to have more depth.”
The Tournament Finally Arrives
One of the most highly anticipated elements of Mortal Kombat 2 is the inclusion of the tournament itself, which was missing from the first film. This time, it’s front and center, with the fate of Earthrealm hanging in the balance.
“They keep score throughout the movie. There’s a visual representation of who is winning,” Boon revealed. “It’s not just a tournament for the sake of a tournament. There are huge consequences, so you really are keeping score. And there are a lot of twists in it that keep you on your toes.”
Full Cast List
Mortal Kombat 2 features an all-star lineup, including:
- Josh Lawson as Kano
- Tati Gabrielle as Jade
- Lewis Tan as Cole Young
- Damon Herriman as Quan Chi
- Chin Han as Shang Tsung
- Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden
- Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Noob Saibot
- Max Huang as Revenant Kung Lao
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion
Directed by Simon McQuoid and written by Jeremy Slater, Mortal Kombat 2 is based on the legendary video game franchise and is set to hit theaters on October 24, 2025.