Karl Urban calls Mortal Kombat II‘s Johnny Cage ‘the most challenging role’ of his career
This coming May, there are plenty of movies set to hit the big screen and pull in numbers ahead of summer, but one that intrigues me the most is New Line’s Mortal Kombat sequel.
“Mortal Kombat II” logo. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
The highly anticipated Mortal Kombat II brings the iconic fighting game’s central conflict to life with Johnny Cage joining other fighters in the ultimate, no-holds-barred battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn, a powerful tyrant who threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid is back at the helm for the sequel, but this time around he brought in prominent actors for important roles, most notably Karl Urban as the fan-favorite character Johnny Cage, a washed-up action hero who provides an avenue for depth and humor.
Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, and Mehcad Brooks as Jax in “Mortal Kombat II”. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
EW caught up with Urban back in early December for an exclusive, and the actor described his role as Cage as the most physically and technically challenging of his entire career.
“I asked for a heavy-action content movie, and for my sins, they gave me one. It was the most challenging role that I’ve ever undertaken in my career. It’s the martial arts. The form and style of martial arts are so specific, and the choreography, at times, is so definitive in its movement, and there’s a precision of execution for it to look good. It was a huge challenge,” Urban said.
Baraka challenges Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to fight in “Mortal Kombat II.” Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
A few lucky fans in attendance at New York Comic Con in 2025 got their first look at one of the upcoming fight scenes from Mortal Kombat II, which featured two characters making their first appearance in this iteration of the video game adaptation—Cage and Baraka.
The scene began as Liu Kang attempts to recruit Baraka to help fight for Earth. When he refuses, Cage’s goading leads to Baraka challenging him to fight. Johnny is clearly not as prepared for Mortal Kombat as the other fighters Liu Kang and Jax are convinced Johnny will die. The clip hasn’t made it way online but Urban shared a few funny details about the sequence earlier this year with Den of Geek.
“The man must become the myth.The thing that I most looked forward to doing was the classic nut punch,” Urban says with a wry chuckle. “Johnny Cage has got this great fight with Baraka, and a little spoiler, there may be a nut punch involved. It was a lot of fun to do but also very tricky because it required an extraordinary degree of flexibility to pull it off.”
The New Zealand actor, in fact, prepared meticulously with his stunt double Garreth Hadfield for the day.
“We worked for months on basically stretching and training, and developing the muscle set needed to be able to execute the nut punch correctly and, most importantly, not damage myself.”
Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn and Ludi Lin as Liu Kang in “Mortal Kombat II”. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Alongside Urban, another newcomer has been added to the Mortal Kombat II sequel in Shao Kahn. Fans got their first look at Kahn, played by actor Martyn Ford, via the X platform when producer Todd Garner posted a sneak peek as part of this year’s New Year’s celebration. This is not the first time Kahn’s character has been adapted into a live-action movie, having appeared in 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, but unlike previous versions, this time it looks like an effort has been made to do him justice.
Fans will also see other returning characters from the first film, with Lewis Tan being one of them reprising his role as Cole Young. This time around, Cole reportedly steps into a leadership role, attempting to unify Earthrealm’s champions as they head into Outworld. Tan recently spoke with Deadline about the complexities of the film’s fatalities and the work that went into those fight sequences.
“I think it’s worse. Some of the fatalities and some of the fights are worse. But they are way more detailed and way more complex, which is what I wanted… to step up the level of complexity and depth in the fights. It’s Mortal frigging Kombat. We should have the best fight movie of the year. That has to be the goal. I think we accomplished that.”
(L-R) Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, and Josh Lawson as Kano in “Mortal Kombat 2.”.Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Ed Boon, the director and co-creator of Mortal Kombat, said via EW that Mortal Kombat 2 will be “a visual representation of who is winning” the tournament.
“It’s not just a tournament for the sake of a tournament,” he continued. “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.”
The star-studded cast also include Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, Desmond Chiam as Edenian King Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.
Check out the Mortal Kombat II Official Red Band Trailer below:
Mortal Kombat II – only in cinemas on October 24, 2025. from New Line Cinema
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