Karl Urban Says Playing Johnny Cage in MORTAL KOMBAT II Was the Toughest Job of His Career
Stepping into the world of Mortal Kombat II means stepping into chaos, carnage, and blood. For Karl Urban, that meant taking on Johnny Cage, a role he now calls the most challenging of his entire career.
That’s saying something for an actor who’s played all kinds of wild roles involving superheroes, sci-fi wars, epic fantasy, and plenty of brutal action.
In Mortal Kombat II, Urban plays Johnny Cage, a once-famous action movie star whose glory days are behind him. When Earthrealm needs fighters to stand against interdimensional threats, Cage gets pulled into the deadly Mortal Kombat tournament. It’s a fan-favorite character with a big personality, sharp humor, and a fighting style that demands serious physical commitment.
Urban is no stranger to intense action thanks to his work on The Boys, but Mortal Kombat II pushed him into unfamiliar territory. In an interview with EW, Urban explained that he asked for a project packed with action and quickly realized just how demanding that request would be.
“I asked for a heavy-action content movie, and for my sins, they gave me one. It was the most challenging role that I’ve ever undertaken in my career.
“It’s the martial arts. The form and the style of martial arts is so specific, and the choreography, at times, is so definitive in its movement, and there’s a precision of execution for it to look good. It was a huge challenge.”
Unlike brawling-heavy action roles, Johnny Cage’s fighting style requires discipline, timing, and exact movements. Urban had to fully commit to learning choreography that leaves zero room for error, since even small mistakes stand out when translated to screen.
The stakes in Mortal Kombat II are bigger and bloodier than ever. The official synopsis reads: “The fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny 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.”
Urban is joined by a massive ensemble cast that includes Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada.
Simon McQuoid returns to direct Mortal Kombat II from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater. The film is based on the legendary video game franchise created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, and it follows up on 2021’s Mortal Kombat.
The film hits theaters on May 8, 2026, and if Urban’s comments are any indication, Cage’s arrival is going to hurt in all the right ways.