Karl Urban is officially on board to star as the iconic and beloved Mortal Kombat character for the live-action sequel Mortal Kombat 2 over at Warner Bros. Pictures, confirming rumours and even recent teases from co-creator Ed Boon himself.
Urban has starred in more geeky franchises than most, such as playing Leonard McCoy, aka Bones, in the Star Trek universe, starring as Éomer in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, leading The Boys as Billy Butcher, among many more iconic characters that makes him one of the most beloved actors in geek culture.
It wasn’t too long ago that WWE’s Cody Rhodes, real name Cody Garrett Runnels, was petitioning to star as the live-action Johnny Cage, due to his personality at WWE being almost identical to that of a young Cage from the earlier Mortal Kombat games.
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Another fan-favourite casting notion was that of Ryan Reynolds, who was also theorised to be in the runnings to star as the cocky action star Johnny Cage, a notion that a large number of fans seemed to be thrilled with.
However, it seems that director Simon McQuoid (Mortal Kombat) and the franchise’s co-creator himself Ed Boon are more keen on Urban taking the role, which became evidently clear when Boon tagged Urban in a social post that featured fan art of the Judge Dredd actor reimagined as Johnny Cage, by Bosslogic nonetheless.
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The Hollywood Reporter broke the news just today of Urban’s casting, describing the character as “an action movie star who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament in order to prove to naysayers he is able to do his own stunts.”
Mortal Kombat 2 does not yet have a confirmed release date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter