Karl Urban is known for playing a plethora of popular characters. From Judge Dredd to Billy Butcher, the actor has constantly gravitated towards larger-than-life characters. Now, he’s rumored to be adding another high-profile role to his successful filmography and it’s in a videogame adaptation this time.
Mortal Kombat (2021) was a success for Warner Bros. The film earned $84.4 million on a $55 million budget even with it being released on HBO Max on the same day. As expected, a sequel was soon greenlit. The post-credits scene of the film teased a very popular character coming soon to the franchise and it looks like he’s indeed ready to fight for Earthrealm.
Karl Urban Set To Star In Sequel Of Videogame Adaptation
The Wrap reports that Karl Urban is close to starring as Johnny Cage in the sequel to Mortal Kombat. The swashbuckling Hollywood star who is also a martial arts expert was teased in the post-credits scene of the first film and now it looks like we know who will play the image-conscious and yet stylish hero. Urban will join Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, and Tadanobu Asano as Raiden among others.
Apart from The Wrap, noted film insider @CanWeGetToast also tweeted out the same news. The tweet said, “Karl Urban in talks to play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2.” Here’s the tweet:
Karl Urban in talks to play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2 pic.twitter.com/RDx78XnhHT
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) May 4, 2023
Mortal Kombat is based on the videogame phenomenon of the same name created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Mortal Kombat 2 will be directed by Simon McQuoid who helmed the first film as well. Fans of the franchise are having a wide variety of reactions to the news of Karl Urban potentially joining their fighting franchise.
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Mortal Kombat Fans Are Divided On Karl Urban Joining The Sequel
Mortal Kombat videogames have had multiple installments. Johnny Cage, who was modeled after Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a beloved character. Linden Ashby played the hero in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. As such, fans think that if Karl Urban indeed ends up playing him, as is looking likely, it will be a win for the franchise. However, not everyone holds this opinion. Others think Urban is too old for the role.
Here’s what the fans are saying:
Good, out of the box casting👍
— Gap Toothed Wonder (@darthkush1983) May 5, 2023
Honestly would not have come to mind but he's a GREAT pick
— ViewerAnon (@ViewerAnon) May 4, 2023
He's too old to play a young action movie star.
— Not Dave Grohl (@warmason77) May 4, 2023
We love Karl but he really doesn’t have what it takes to be Johnny.
— Alpha_Bravo (@Lotus_630) May 4, 2023
I absolutely love Karl Urban and would love to see him in more, bigger roles but I don’t think he fits Johnny Cage as well as someone like Rudy Pankow or my personal pick for the character Glen Powell
— bill johnson (@BillJ124420) May 4, 2023
It should be kept in mind that his casting hasn’t been totally confirmed as of yet. In 2022, Jeremy Slater, the writer of Mortal Kombat 2 gave fans an update on the progress. He said that the sequel will be better than the first one because everyone has noted what fans liked and what they didn’t.
He said, “I can’t say anything about the actual story, but I think they definitely learned some lessons the last time around in terms of, ‘Here’s the stuff fans responded to, and here’s what people liked out of the movie, and here’s the stuff that didn’t work out as well as we hoped.” It now remains to be seen how good the second film ultimately turns out to be.
Mortal Kombat is on HBO Max.
