Mortal Kombat's 2021 reboot made enough noise to warrant a sequel, and with filming recently concluded on Mortal Kombat 2, viewers are no doubt eager to see the next chapter in the violent franchise. Fortunately, the first film kept enough characters alive for there to be a sequel, and it's even brought on newcomers to play Kombatants who didn't make the first movie, like Karl Urban as the popular Johnny Cage.
Below, we'll break down every actor confirmed so far for Mortal Kombat 2, as well as a little bit about who they're playing. Read on and remember that the first movie in this franchise is available to stream right now with a Max subscription.
Lewis Tan
Star Lewis Tan returns as Cole Young in Mortal Kombat 2, and the descendant of Scorpion will further solidify his legacy as a notable character in the franchise at large. Tan assured the sequel would be "bigger than ever," so maybe the video games will finally add his original character after this sequel.
Jessica McNamee
Jessica McNamee will also return to the Mortal Kombat world for the sequel, reprising the iconic Sonya Blade. Sonya acquired Kano's dragon mark in the first film when she was forced to kill her former ally, and will likely have much greater powers now that she's able to shoot energy blasts.
Mehcad Brooks
Mehcad Brooks is likely back in the gym to work on those gains for Jax, as the mechanical-armed Earthrealm defender is back in the mix for Mortal Kombat 2. Brooks had one of the more brutal scenes of the first movie when Sub Zero froze off his arms, so here's hoping he'll get to return the favor with a brutal attack of his own on Bi-Han.
Tadanobu Asano
Thor might be the God of Thunder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in Mortal Kombat, that title belongs to Raiden. Tadanobu Asano returns to portray the protector of Earthrealm who works tirelessly to keep OutWorld and its evils at bay. We'll see how successful he is and which fighters he'll gather to help defend Earth this time around.
Ludi Lin
Ludi Lin returns as Liu Kang, and who isn't excited to see one of Mortal Kombat's most beloved characters back in action? His fatality by summoning the fire dragon made CinemaBlend's list of most insane kills from the first movie, and I do hope the character can top that in the sequel with something even wilder.
Chin Han
Chin Han is expected back as one of the major baddies of Mortal Kombat, the Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung. Tsung is the right-hand man to Shao Kahn and has no love lost for the people of Earthrealm or its protectors. To him, they're just in the way to his master's big plans.
Joe Taslim
Joe Taslim is back in Mortal Kombat 2, which may strike some as odd considering he died. Well, the original Sub Zero also died in the games, and would later return as Noob Saibot. There's no official word yet if that's what's happening in the movie, so we'll have to wait and see. As a fun fact, the name "Noob Saibot" is just a word mesh backwards spelling of the last names of Mortal Kombat's creators, Ed Boon and John Tobias.
Hiroyuki Sanada
Hiroyuki Sanada felt like the underrated star of Mortal Kombat and successfully made the hellish Scorpion into a sympathetic character. Perhaps he was always that way, but as a kid, I couldn't quit being terrified enough by his booming voice and skeleton head to look deeper.
Josh Lawson
Josh Lawson's Kano was the comedic element Mortal Kombat really needed to offset the violence, so it was a shame to see him die even if he had turned on the rest of the humans. With that said, it's looking like he'll return for the sequel, though I'm not sure if he'll be resurrected via magic or this will just be some flashback. I won't complain about how it happens, I just need more of Kano's hilarious one-liners.
Max Huang
Max Huang will return, presumably as Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat 2, but we don't know how yet. His soul was sucked from his body in the first movie, and I'm not entirely sure what Shang Tsung does with those souls once he obtains them. Maybe we'll see a ghost version of him or a flashback scene of him training with Liu Kang.
Karl Urban
Despite WWE superstar The Miz's best efforts to get the role, he will not play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2. The role instead went to Karl Urban, who is also a great choice to play the Hollywood star and protector of Earthrealm. After seeing the picture of what he'll look like as Johnny, I'm ready to see him in action.
Tati Gabrielle
Tati Gabrielle will join Mortal Kombat 2 and step into the role of beloved classic character Jade. In the games, Jade is the bodyguard and friend of Princess Kitana, and one of Shao Kahn's assassins. I would expect her presence to be in large part because of Kahn's role in the new movie.
Adeline Rudolph
Adeline Rudolph has joined the cast of Mortal Kombat 2 to play, Kitana. She is the daughter of Shao Kahn, princess of Outworld and pretty deadly with a fan. I would expect to see her in close proximity to Jade given their friendship and the latter's role as a protector.
Martyn Ford
Professional bodybuilder and actor Martyn Ford will join Mortal Kombat 2 to play the evil emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. With a height of 6'8 and a look like he could deadlift a bar with a school bus attached on either side, it's safe to say he'll make for an intimidating figure when playing the character on the big screen.
Desmond Chiam
Desmond Chiam is coming into Mortal Kombat 2 in a role that even seasoned fans of the franchise might not recognize. Chiam is playing the first husband of Queen Sindel, King Jerrod, who ruled over the nation of Edenia before it was lost in a Mortal Kombat tournament. Given his limited screen time in the games, I would expect his screen time in the movie to be about the same.
Ana Thu Nguyen
Queen Sindel is an iconic character in Mortal Kombat, so it's no surprise Ana Thu Nguyen is in to play her for the sequel. But Sindel isn't just a queen, she's also a fearsome fighter few people in want to go up against. In the games, she's able to kill people with her hair, which I'd definitely want to see in the movie.
Damon Herriman
Damon Herriman is coming into Mortal Kombat 2 in a pretty interesting role: a necromancer known as Quan Chi. The character is equally despised amongst the Earthrealm and Outworld characters, but as someone who knows the gist of necromancy, I'm guessing he could be the key behind some dead characters returning to life.
CJ Bloomfield
CJ Bloomfield is coming into the action-packed bloodbath as Baraka, a former leader of the Tarkatan Horde in the game lore. He's most known for his razor sharp teeth, as well as the two giant blades that extend from his forearms. Out of all the characters in the franchise, he's the most terrifying-looking.
As mentioned, we're still waiting on the release date for Mortal Kombat 2, which wrapped production towards the end of January 2024. With that said, I'm optimistic the movie will be just as entertaining as the original, and hopefully even drum up interest for yet another movie until we have just as many sequels as the games do.
