New Line Cinema just shared the first look at Karl Urban as Johnny Cage for the upcomingMortal Kombat 2, and this has the potential to be the best rendition of the character yet.
The upcoming sequel to theMortal Kombatmovie reboot from 2021 had been silent for too long. The studio knew it had to break the silence in the most hype way possible, and it sure did. We’d known Karl Urban would be playing Johnny Cage in the new movie for a while, but this is the first time we get a look at the character, and he looks just right.
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Anyone unaware of Johnny Cage’s persona might get the impression they’re looking at a regular Duke Nukem impersonator, but there are a lot of cool elements at play here. The character of Johhny Cage is a true badass, but he’s also a movie star in the world ofMortal Kombat, meaning he needs to have his badassness comedically exacerbated by 200% for the public. Thus, we got the perfect reveal via a fake poster from an ’80s style action slop blockbuster with lots of explosions, motor bikes, leather jackets, and what I assume is a pair of $500 sunglasses.
Why Karl Urban is the best choice to play Johnny Cage
As mostMortal Kombatfans know by now, the character of Johnny Cage was inspired by Jean Claude Van Damme, but the studio couldn’t get Van Damme to play Johnny Cage in the first movie. Lynden Ashby, the actor who played Cage in the OGMortal Kombat, absolutely nailed the part he got, but, through no fault of his own, couldn’t capture the entire nature of the character. That’s because the meta aspect of the character required a real-life action star playing a cocky guy who was actually unsure of his combat prowess.
One of the surprisingly great things about the originalMortal Kombatrebook was the comedy. Props go to Josh Lawson, who played Kano, for making the movie worthwhile with his brilliant comedic takes alone. This time we have Urban, a fan-favorite action star with great comedy chops of his own, so I’m sure that part is once again more than covered.
