Mortal Kombat 2 Already Happening?

The first movie has only just released, but a new rumor suggests Mortal Kombat 2 is already in the works.

By Faith McKay | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

mortal kombat 2

These days, as soon as movie releases, audiences want to know if there will be another one. Even if they didn’t enjoy the film, they generally want to know where things may go from there with the story. As an audience member, you’re part of it now. So, as Mortal Kombat has just released and reviews are coming in, audiences want to know if there will be a Mortal Kombat 2. Already, actor Joe Taslim confirmed to Variety during a podcast that he’s signed a contract to continue playing Sub-Zero if sequels happen, but the productions themselves haven’t been confirmed yet.

Now, according to what insider Daniel Richtman has shared with his Patreon page, we are hearing that Mortal Kombat 2 is “for sure” happening and that decisions about the sequels are already being made. In fact, the insider claims that in the next movie we’ll be seeing the video game character Johnny Cage and they want a big-name actor to play the character.

johnny cage mortal kombat

The possibility of Johnny Cage already being looked at for a Mortal Kombat 2 makes sense. It surprised a lot of people that his character wasn’t in the first movie. His character is larger than life and a Hollywood type begging to see the screen. He’s been in the video games since the beginning. So why did they leave him out the first time around? Well, producer Todd Garner has said that while Johnny Cage is a great and funny character, so is Kano. While Mortal Kombat 2 is still wide open, for this first film, they felt they had to choose between the two so that the characters weren’t spending the entire movie working to outfunny each other. The producer added, “God willing, we’ll able to do another one. Everybody is waiting for that.”

Based on what the producer said, it sounds like casting Johnny Cage would be a priority item for Mortal Kombat 2. However, with the movie only just released, could the studio already be moving on to the sequel? We have very little box office data at this point. And, for a release during the pandemic, the box office numbers aren’t the only ones to be considered. The movie has simultaneously been released in theaters and for streaming on HBO Max for its first thirty days. The streaming data is still in its earliest stages. So what information would the studio have that would make them comfortable moving forward with work on Mortal Kombat 2?

It isn’t easy to step into the world of video game adaptation movies. They’re criticized more than most. Gamers are a huge audience that are heavily invested in the franchises they follow, playing game after game in a universe. However, translating that to the movie screen has been a challenge. If Mortal Kombat has managed to convince the studio to sign on for Mortal Kombat 2, it could speak well to building a long standing series for the popular video game franchise. If they end up with sequels, it may have been smart to hold back on Johnny Cage, so they have fresh material to keep the sequel interesting. It sounds like we may be hearing who they cast to play the character soon.