Mortal Kombat IIlooks to be making some big changes to the movie franchise after the first film was largely seen as a disappointment. Based on thetrailer forMortal Kombat II, it seems like Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage will lead the cast of the sequel, which will feature Earthrealm’s champions fighting in a high-stakes tournament against Outworld.
In addition to Johnny Cage, the trailer for the highly anticipated sequel has given us our first look at all the othernew characters set to appear inMortal Kombat II, such as Kitana, Jade, Baraka, Sindel, and Shao Kahn. With all these new inclusions, it seems like theupcomingMortal Kombat IIwill be way better than the first movie.
Despite the massive popularity of the video games, theMortal Kombatfranchise has always struggled to find success on the big screen. Thankfully, based on the first trailer, it seems like the upcoming sequel is theMortal Kombatmovie fans have been waiting decades for. Interestingly, this is largely becauseMortal Kombat IIfeels more like a reboot, rather than a sequel.
Mortal Kombat 2’s Johnny Cage Focus Makes It Come Across As A Reboot
Johnny Cage Was Not Included In The First Movie
Even though Liu Kang is traditionally the main character in mostMortal Kombatvideo games, the first movie, which was released in 2021, featured Cole Young as its primary protagonist. This proved to be a divisive decision, especially sinceCole Young was created solely for the movie franchise and has never appeared in any of the games.
Since there are plenty of amazing characters in theMortal Kombatvideo games, this decision baffled many fans. It didn’t help thatCole Young wasn’t really an interesting character in the 2021 film. The ending of the first movie revealed that he is a descendant of Scorpion, but not even this made fans want to see Cole Young take on major villains like Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn.
Therefore,instead of more naturally continuing the story of the first movie and once again following Cole Young, it seems likeMortal Kombat IIis going to sideline him in favor of Johnny Cage. This makes much more sense since Johnny Cage is one of the most popular characters in the video game series. Additionally, Urban is easily the most recognizable actor in the cast ofMortal Kombat II.
However,the trailer focusing mostly on Johnny Cage makesMortal Kombat IIfeel more like a reboot than a sequel. Based on the trailer, it seems like Sonya Blade and Raiden will recruit Johnny Cage to fight for Earthrealm and then explain the rules of the tournament to him. Since Johnny Cage is a new fighter, this makes sense. However, these rules, along with the necessary background information about the franchise, were already explained to us in the 2021 movie.
Therefore,by choosing to follow a brand-new character, it seems likeMortal Kombat IIis going to repeat a lot of information that fans of the movie franchise already know. Sure, storylines likethe rivalry between Scorpion and Bi-Hanand Kano’s relationship with the other Earthrealm fighters will pick up from the ending of the first movie. However, overall,Mortal Kombat IIfeels like a soft reboot.
Mortal Kombat 2 Not Feeling Like A True Sequel Could Be A Good Thing
Mortal Kombat 2 Could Be Way Better Than The First Movie
Mortal Kombat IIrepeating information that was already provided to us in the first movie could slow down the pacing, but hopefully the sequel includes enough action to make up for this. If there is indeed enough action and fights to keep audiences entertained, which the trailer suggests there will be, then treating the sequel like a soft reboot might actually be a good thing.
After all, fans of the franchise had many complaints about the first movie. In addition to not liking Cole Young, fans were also disappointed that the first film didn’t feature an actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Thankfully, this is a mistake that the sequel won’t repeat. After Johnny Cage gets recruited,it seems likeMortal Kombat IIwill be entirely focused on the tournament.
Instead of forcing Cole Young on fans and making him fight Shao Kahn inMortal Kombat II, it’ll be much better to watch a character like Johnny Cage take on the Outworld emperor.
Since the first movie wasn’t regarded as very good by most fans,it’s better thatMortal Kombat IIis “rebooting” the franchise, rather than trying to continue a story that most people weren’t responding to. Instead of forcing Cole Young on fans and making him fight Shao Kahn inMortal Kombat II, it’ll be much better to watch a character like Johnny Cage take on the Outworld emperor.
Overall,it’s a good thing that the creative team behind the movie franchise listened to fans' complaints about the first film. The sequel already looks amazing, and Shao Kahn actor Martyn Ford claimed thatMortal Kombat II’strailer doesn’t feature any of the best partsof the movie. Therefore, it truly seems likeMortal Kombat IIwill be the movie that fans of the franchise have been begging for for years.
