MK II: Karl Urban Enters the Cage to Fight Shao Kahn

In a major casting development, The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek star Karl Urban is swapping his leather jacket from The Boys for the trademark aviators of Mortal Kombat fan-favorite Johnny Cage in the blockbuster sequel Mortal Kombat II.

The follow-up to 2021’s reboot has been anticipated by fans since the original movie’s end-credit tease, and now that we have our first look at Urban’s Cage in action, fans can expect even more from this second go-around.

Mortal Kombat II will be the fourth live-action film in the franchise since the original was released in theaters in 1995. On the very same day that the official trailer for Mortal Kombat II dropped, Warner Bros. released a fake movie trailer for the intentionally cheesy spoof Uncaged Fury, a throwback to ’80s and ’90s action movies.

The fake trailer (complete with Paramount Pictures-style titles) pokes fun at Cage’s fake acting career with titles like Cool Hand Cage and Rebel Without a Cage.

The announcement of the new Mortal Kombat film also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the first Mortal Kombat film, which earned an abysmal score from critics upon release but went on to become a massive cult favorite. The franchise’s 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was a critical and financial failure that contributed to game publisher Midway Games going bankrupt later that year.

Warner Bros. rebooted the live-action series in 2021 with Mortal Kombat, the action-horror flick directed by Simon McQuoid that introduced audiences to Lewis Tan as MMA fighter Cole Young, who finds himself in a war to save Earthrealm. At the end of the film, Young and allies finish off the villainous emperor Shao Kahn but Young is not done yet as he tracks down Cage.

Familiar Faces, New Challengers

Mortal Kombat II continues shortly after the first film, with Earthrealm’s new champions (now including Cage) preparing to battle a new group of villains led by a tyrannical Shao Kahn. The returning cast includes Lewis Tan (Cole Young), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Joe Taslim (Bi-Han/Noob Saibot), and Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion), among others, and new actors join including Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana.

Urban gets the full sendup treatment in the trailer, which features Cage in a dingy dive bar taking selfies with fans. One fan approaches Cage with a pitch for a reboot for his fictional Citizen Cage movie, and Cage replies deadpanned, “Nobody wants that.” Cage proves that he hasn’t lost his cynical sense of humor when Sonya Blade and Raiden arrive to recruit him for the “tournament to the death” by joking that it’s a “superfan” trying to prank him, and once he learns they’re serious, he instantly replies, “F— that.”

In an instant, Cage proves that he has no powers as he grumbles, “I’m just incredibly handsome,” before reluctantly agreeing to the fight. When asked if there are any rules, he says, “No touching the face.” The rest of the trailer is every Mortal Kombat fan’s dream: over-the-top fatalities, brutal fights, and classic one-liners like, “Get over here!” from Scorpion.

Mortal Kombat II will arrive in theaters on October 24, 2025.