Karl Urban as Johnny Cage. Photo:
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s once again time to shout, “Mortaaal Kombat!”
Today, Warner Bros. released the first full trailer for the next entry in the live-action Mortal Kombat film series, adapted from the gory fighting game franchise. The sequel to 2021’s reboot of the movies, Mortal Kombat II, out Oct. 24, promises to hew closer to the original game’s story and introduce multiple new characters like Jade (Tati Gabrielle), Noob Saibot (Joe Taslim), and the fan-favorite Johnny Cage (Karl Urban).
The red band trailer is filled with martial arts violence and showcases the sequel’s fantasy setting, which centers around a deadly tournament between dimensions, where heroes from Earthrealm and the dark Outworld must battle for their very existence. Much like the games that inspired it, the movie looks to have plenty of violence and viscera, with each bout typically ending with gruesome fatalities — meaning any number of the film’s new and old characters could end up on the chopping block.
Directed by Simon McQuoid (who also directed the 2021 film), Mortal Kombat II picks up after the events of the first film, where thunder god and Earthrealm protector Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) has gathered a group of warriors, including Special Forces agents Jax Briggs (Mechad Brooks) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), the sociopathic mercenary Kano (Josh Lawson), and MMA fighter-turned-mystic Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Joining the good guys is washed up action movie star Johnny Cage and, as shown in a big reveal moment, the otherworldly princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) — as well as another fan-favorite Scorpion (Shogun’s Hiroyuki Sanada), whose character’s in-game catchphrase, “Get over here!” punctuates the teaser’s biggest fight scene.
Although it performed decently with a dual theatrical and streaming release on HBO Max, the 2021 Mortal Kombat film received mostly mixed reviews, with many fans happy to see a more respectable take on the gaming adaptation than previously seen in the Nineties-era films. However, many were critical of the movie’s story, which served almost entirely as a prequel that set up the actual tournament each game is based on. Another major issue was the story’s focus on Tan’s character of Cole, who was an entirely original creation for the film that many felt took away from the other classic characters who were relegated to supporting roles.
From just the brief look provided in the trailer, Mortal Kombat II looks to be leaning more heavily into fan service, positioning Urban’s Johnny Cage as the lead along with Kitana, Jax, and the series classic protagonist Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), with Cole pushed further to the margins. It’s good news for the diehards who have yearned for a more authentic adaptation of the games since the Nineties. The very first adaptation, Paul W.S. Anderson’s Mortal Kombat (1995) played it pretty close, but with a low budget, schlocky execution, it’s mostly become a cult hit B-movie over time. That movie’s sequel, 1997’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation was a total disaster, upsetting audiences of all kinds and putting the film franchise on ice for over two decades.
One of the most successful fighting game series of all time, Mortal Kombat has never waned in popularity. While its competitors like Capcom’s Street Fighter have seen peaks and valleys in their cultural cache, Warner Bros. Games have churned out Mortal Kombat games regularly since the original game’s arcade release in 1992. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the franchise differentiated itself early on with its use of digitized scans of real people rather than pixelized art; With extremely gory finishing moves, Mortal Kombat was controversial, with years of media coverage and even congressional hearings around the game’s violence and its impact on children.
The modern games mostly evade the moral panic, but they remain as gruesome (and popular) as ever, selling over 100 million copies as of 2025. The most recent game in the series, Mortal Kombat 1, was released in 2023 to critical acclaim. The developers are currently rumored to be working on the next installment, although no announcements as have been made.
From Rolling Stone US.
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