Mortal Kombat Creator Reveals New Look at Karl Urban as Johnny Cage

Mortal Kombat fans are getting hyped with production on Mortal Kombat 2 currently underway. On location for the shoot in Australia is The Boys star Karl Urban, who plays fan favorite Johnny Cage in the film. While no official images of Urban in character have yet been shared, behind-the-scenes images tease how the actor will appear in the role. A new image shared to Twitter by Ed Boon, who co-created the original video game with John Tobias, reveals what is perhaps our best look yet at the new Johnny Cage.

In the photo, Urban’s hairstyle and sunglasses have the actor looking a lot like the master of the Shadow Kick. While Urban is considerably older than Johnny Cage in the early video games and previous live-action adaptation, it’s worth noting that the character is depicted as middle-aged in more recent Mortal Kombat games. In video game lore, Johnny and Sonya Blade even have an adult daughter, Cassie Cage, who’s also available as a playable fighter. In any case, many fans seeing this new image of Urban as Johnny Cage are completely sold on him in the role.

“Can’t wait for MK2, it’s going to be amazing seeing Karl as Johnny Cage,” one response to Boon’s post reads.

“Okay now he looks Like Johnny Cage,” says someone else who was previously more skeptical about the casting.

Related: Mortal Kombat 2 Producer Confirms the Addition of Another Familiar Fighter

A New Johnny Cage Has Entered the Arena

There was great pressure to cast the right person for Johnny Cage, considering the popularity of the character with Mortal Kombat fans. The anticipation for his arrival only increased with the character’s absence in the previous movie. Urban’s casting will officially make him the third actor to play Johnny Cage in a live-action movie on the big screen, as he follows Linden Ashby’s performance in the original Mortal Kombat film from 1995. Chris Conrad would briefly take over the role for the 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. More recently, Joel McHale has been voicing an animated Johnny Cage in the Mortal Kombat Legends movies.

In the games, Johnny Cage first appeared in the original installment released in 1992. He is heavily inspired by Jean-Claude Van Damme, both with some of his special moves and with his appearance. He has consistently appeared in Mortal Kombat video games throughout the years ever since, remaining among the most popular playable fighters with fans of the series.

Joining Urban as newcomers to the series in the Mortal Kombat 2 film are Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Desmond Chiam as King Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, and Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn. Returning stars include Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion. Simon McQuoid directs using a screenplay by Jeremy Slater

Mortal Kombat 2 doesn’t yet have an official release date.