Karl Urban is a wise-cracking Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II

Karl Urban takes a break from The Boys to play a washed-up Johnny Cage in the trailer for Mortal Kombat II, a sequel to 2021's Mortal Kombat reboot and the fourth live-action film in the franchise based on the 1990s video game series. It comes one day after Warner Bros. released a (very entertaining) fake trailer for a new in-universe, faux 1990s Johnny Cage movie, Uncaged Fury. (Cage's prior fake film credits apparently include Cool Hand Cage, Hard to Cage, and Rebel Without a Cage.)

The first live-action Mortal Kombat film turns 30 this year. It was a box office success but a critical failure, although it has since evolved into a campy cult classic—and Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa is still considered by many to be the definitive portrayal of sorcerer Shang Tsung. A 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, however, bombed both critically and financially. And Midway, the game publisher, filed for bankruptcy soon after.

However, Warner Bros. bought the rights and eventually tapped Simon McQuoid to direct a reboot more than 20 years after the original's release, focusing on MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan). The 2021 film earned mixed reviews, but performed sufficiently well at the box office for Warner Bros. to green-light a sequel, also directed by McQuoid. The 2021 film ended with Cole heading to Los Angeles to look for martial arts movie star Johnny Cage, who is the main protagonist of Mortal Kombat II.

The official synopsis presumes familiarity with its predecessor: "This time, the fan favorite champions—now joined by Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders."

Several cast members are returning from the 2021 film: Tan as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade; Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Noob Saibot aka Sub-Zero; Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden; Josh Lawson as Kano; Ludi Lin as Liu Kang; Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs; Chin Han as Shang Tsung; Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion; and Max Huang as Kung Lao. Newcomers include Adeline Rudolph as Kitana; Tati Gabrielle as Jade; Damon Herriman (who voiced Kabal in the 2021 film) as Quan Chi; Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn; CJ Bloomfield as Baraka; Desmond Chiam as King Jerrod; and Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel.

The trailer opens with Cage being recognized by an eager fan in a dive bar. "I loved Citizen Cage as a kid," the fan enthuses. "They should do a reboot!" A bitter Cage responds that "nobody wants that" because his kind of film went out of fashion in the 1990s. It sets the self-deprecating, referential tone quite nicely. Then Lord Raiden—accompanied by Sonya Blade—interrupts the pity party to inform Cage, "You have been chosen to fight."

Cage assumes they're just a couple of crazed fans, until he's whisked off to the otherworldly arena to participate in a "fighting tournament to the death." His response is not enthusiastic ("F--- that"), given all the gory bloodshed and his lack of supernatural powers: "I'm just incredibly handsome." But when Cage learns the fate of his world is at stake, he reluctantly accepts, although he does ask one opponent not to target his face. The rest is the kind of violently over-the-top combat scenes and famous phrases ("get over here!") one would expect from a Mortal Kombat movie.

Frankly, it looks like bloody, mindless fun, provided one is a fan of the franchise. We'll see how general audiences respond when Mortal Kombat II hits theaters on October 24, 2025.