Warner Bros. has finally unveiled the new trailer for Mortal Kombat II, the sequel to its 2021 video game adaptation. It stars Karl Urban as B-movie star Johnny Cage, and the character is front and center in this new clip.
The sequel film, whose title is likely to cause further confusion among fighting game fans, on top of the damage already caused by game developer NetherRealm Studios, was first announced in 2022. The trailer aims to put viewers right back in the middle of the gory action.
In contrast to the first film, which saw an original character fight alongside and against series mainstays, Mortal Kombat II will center more on its titular to-the-death martial arts tournament.
“They keep score throughout the movie,” Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat, told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s a visual representation of who is winning… 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.”
Characters fortunate enough to not be fatalities returning to the fray from the first film include Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), and Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), as well as Kano (Josh Lawson) and Kung Lao (Max Huang). While the last two were very much killed in the first film, they’re somehow back. Undoubtedly, Mortal Kombat II will explain the strange appearances of characters, particularly through the cinematic introduction of revenants—undead versions of deceased fighters.
Joining the fight are Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), and—as mentioned—Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). In contrast to the previous film, which followed Young’s journey, Mortal Kombat II shifts focus to make Cage a central figure. Time will tell whether the new-wave Mortal Kombat II will eat the lunch of video game competitor Street Fighter, which also appears to be assembling its killer lineup of Hollywood actors.
Mortal Kombat II is slated to release October 24.
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