Summary
Following its notable absence in the 2021 reboot movie,Mortal Kombat 2’s tournament gets a promising tease from star Lewis Tan. Plot details remain under wraps for the follow-up to the hit video game adaptation, though is expected to continue its storyline of Cole Young and other powerful fighters protecting Earthrealm from the forces of Outworld, including new faces Jade, Kitana, Shao Kahn, Auan Chi and Baraka. Alongside Tan, theensembleMortal Kombat 2castwill see the returns of Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Tadanobu Asano, Ludi Lin, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada and others, as well as debut of Karl Urban as Johnny Cage.
During a recent interview withColliderat 2024’s San Diego Comic-Con, Tan was asked for an update onMortal Kombat 2following its filing wrap in January. Though keeping tight-lipped about major details, the Cole Young actor did tease what to expect from the movie’s overall fights and tournament,promising a “very gory, very bloody” follow-upto the 2021 hit. See what Tan shared below:
For the sequel, I can promise many more fights, much longer fights. It’s very gory, it’s very bloody. We have Karl Urban playing Johnny Cage. We have a good friend of mine, Adeline [Rudolph], who’s playing Kitana. Martyn Ford is playing Shao Khan. There’s a tournament in this one. That’s all I can say before they get mad at me. But look, they really do listen to the people and what we learned from the first movie, and we’ve made it 100 times better in the second movie. I’m very excited for fans to see it.
Mortal Kombat 2’s Tournament Is A Major Key To Its Success
Though the first movie proved to be a hit at both the box office and on Max,there were some criticisms towards 2021’sMortal Kombat,the most notable being that of the tournament’s absence from the movie. Given the tournament is the driving catalyst for the plot in all of the games, it proved quite a surprise when it didn’t appear in the reboot, particularly since it was a major factor in prior adaptations. Former co-writer Greg Russo previously explained this decision stemmed from envisioning a trilogy for the newMortal Kombatmovies, with the second always intended to be the tournament.
Mortal Kombat 2: Why The Tournament Is Happening Despite Earthrealm’s Win
Warner Bros. has officially green-lit Mortal Kombat 2, but why is the tournament still happening despite Earthrealm’s win in Mortal Kombat 2021?
With so much of the 2021 movie’s story focused on the events before it,Mortal Kombat 2choosing to focus on the actual tournamentis a promising sign of the filmmakers listening to fan feedback, butits actual depiction will be key to the sequel’s success. Though more of the recent games have moved away from the tournament itself, those locations and their results are essential for laying the groundwork for potential future sequels. Liu Kang’s canonical victories in both the first and second games not only established him as the franchise’s main hero, but also solidified Shao Kahn’s lust to conquer Earthrealm.
Whether it ends up being Liu Kang or Tan’s Cole Young who winsMortal Kombat 2’s tournament, delivering a proper victory over Shang Tsung in the sequel could build the bridge for a third movie to start moving to the war to protect Earthrealm from Shao Kahn and his Outworld forces. Tan’s promise of a “very gory” sequel is sure to come as a welcome sign for those who appreciated the R-rated tone taken by its predecessor, but between the introductions of Urban’s Johnny Cage and the tournament itself, it appearsthe creative team are properly working on improving what workedin the first installment.
Mortal Kombat II
Cast
Mortal Kombat II: A sequel to the 2021 film Mortal Kombat, this movie continues the saga of Earth’s champions as they face new threats from the Outworld. Building on the original’s mythical universe, the film delves deeper into the lore of the Mortal Kombat tournament and its legendary fighters.
