SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for “Mortal Kombat II,” now playing in theaters.
After five years, “Mortal Kombat” is back on the big screen with a sequel to the 2021 video game adaptation. And the roster of characters is even bigger than last time.
The sequel, now playing in theaters, introduces fan-favorite fighters like Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Jade (Tati Gabrielle), Baraka (CJ Bloomfield) and the evil Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) as the Mortal Kombat tournament, a universe-crossing battle to the death, officially kicks off.
The first movie introduced several of the video game characters, like Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) and Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), but it centered around a new protagonist named Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Now, Johnny Cage steps into the spotlight and faces off against ninjas, otherworldly monsters and resurrected demon fighters.
Like the first movie and the video games, tons of characters die in horribly gruesome fatalities. Despite being the main character of the original movie, Cole Young is killed by Shao Kahn during an early round of the tournament, and Liu Kang meets a similar fate — but it looks like he could be brought back to life in a sequel. In the games, Liu Kang returns from the dead as a fire god, with similar elemental powers to Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). Once Johnny, Kitana and their Earthrealm allies kill Shao Kahn and win the tournament, they band together and search for their fallen friend. It seems like they’ll also look for a way to bring back Kung Lao (Max Huang), who died in the first movie but was resurrected and killed Liu Kang on behalf of Shao Kahn’s forces in the sequel.
Take a look at who lives, who dies and who could be back for “Mortal Kombat III” below.
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Johnny Cage (Karl Urban)
“The Boys” star Karl Urban joins the “Mortal Kombat” universe as Johnny Cage after the character was teased in the ending of the first movie. Johnny is a washed-up action star who’s thrown into the deadly tournament and must prove himself alongside much more powerful fighters. He’s known for cracking jokes and his “nut punch” special movie that he uses in the sequel against Baraka. After helping save Earthrealm, Johnny teams up with Kitana, Jade, Kano and Baraka to rescue Liu Kang.
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Kitana (Adeline Rudolph)
Kitana picks up her iconic fan weapons and joins the fight in “Mortal Kombat II.” She’s introduced as the daughter of Edenia’s King Jerrod, but she’s held captive until adulthood by Shao Kahn after he brutally killed her dad. After fighting on behalf of Shao Kahn, Kitana reveals her true colors and flips sides to help Earthrealm. In her final showdown against Shao Kahn, she beheads him with her fans and becomes the rightful queen.
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Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada)
“Shogun” star Hiroyuki Sanada returns as the undead ninja Hanzo Hasashi, better known as fiery fighter Scorpion. In the sequel, he gets a rematch against his lifelong foe Bi-Han, who was formerly the icy ninja Sub-Zero but gets resurrected as the shadowy Noob Saibot. Even in his Netherrealm afterlife, Scorpion uses his kunai spear (and shouts his catchphrase “Get over here!”) to get vengeance once again against Bi-Han in “Mortal Kombat II.”
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Noob Saibot (Joe Taslim)
In the first “Mortal Kombat,” Joe Taslim starred as Sub-Zero (real name Bi-Han), the sworn nemesis of Scorpion who gets killed in the end. In the sequel, Bi-Han is back as Noob Saibot, the dark wraith from Netherrealm. Like the games, he has the ability as Noob to split into two jet-black fighters who can teleport between shadows. However, he’s no match for Scorpion and Johnny Cage and loses in a climactic showdown again.
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Liu Kang (Ludi Lin)
Earthrealm champion Liu Kang is back for the sequel, but his time in the tournament ends in tragedy. He’s pit against his friend Kung Lao, who died in the first movie but gets resurrected by Shao Kahn’s forces. Unable to kill his pal, Liu Kang sacrifices himself and falls on Kung Lao’s razor-sharp hat. However, Johnny, Kitana and their allies vow to rescue Liu Kang at the end of the movie. In the video games, he’s often resurrected as a Raiden-like god of fire, which could be what happens in “Mortal Kombat III.”
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Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee)
Special Forces agent Sonya Blade is back for the sequel, and she wins her first fight in the tournament against Sindel. Just like her fatality from the games, she blasts a hole through Sindel’s chest in a spike-filled pit stage.
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Kung Lao (Max Huang)
After dying in the first movie, the hat-wearing Earthrealm fighter Kung Lao is brought back to life by Quan Chi and Shang Tsung as an evil version of himself. He’s forced to turn on Raiden, his mentor and the god of thunder, and fight his friend Liu Kang, whom he reluctantly kills in the tournament.
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Raiden (Tadanobu Asano)
“Shogun” star Tadanobu Asano is back as Raiden, the god of thunder who presides over Earthrealm and its fighters. After a resurrected Kung Lao slices his throat and attempts to steal his power, Raiden goes into a coma for much of “Mortal Kombat II.” Once Johnny, Kitana and their team win the tournament, they save Raiden and prevent his god-like power from being transferred into Shao Kahn.
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Jade (Tati Gabrielle)
Jade is Kitana’s bodyguard and childhood friend from Edenia, who also goes into service of Shao Kahn as an adult. The two are nearly driven apart after Kitana betrays Shao Kahn and helps Earthrealm, but Jade soon follows suit. She uses a bo staff as her primary weapons and gives Kitana her fans.
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Kano (Josh Lawson)
Josh Lawson’s Kano is back from the dead in “Mortal Kombat II.” Quan Chi resurrects the annoying Australian mercenary, but he eventually flips sides and helps the Earthrealm fighters. He teams up with Scorpion and Johnny in the Netherrealm fight against Noob Saibot and seems like he might stay on the good path at the end of the movie.
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Baraka (CJ Bloomfield)
The sharp-toothed Baraka is a Tarkatan alien fighter who has retractable arm blades that he can shoot out during a fight. The brute loses a fight against Johnny on his home planet and becomes indebted to the human, even teaming up with the Earthrealm heroes at the end of the movie.
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Jax (Mehcad Brooks)
Mehcad Brooks’ Jax Briggs returns from the first movie, sporting his robotically enhanced arms, but he dies in a brutal fight against Shao Kahn. After getting his arms frozen off by Sub-Zero in the first movie, Jax cannot catch a break.
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Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford)
Shao Kahn is the powerful emperor of Outworldwho takes the throne after killing Kitana’s father, King Jerrod. He uses a massive hammer and some magical abilities to kill Jax and Cole during the tournament, but he meets his match in a final showdown against Kitana. He’s often the final boss in the “Mortal Kombat” video games.
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Cole Young (Lewis Tan)
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
In the first movie, Lewis Tan starred as Cole Young, a brand new fighter for the film who hadn’t appeared in any video games. He has a special suit of armor that can absorb attacks and wields a pair of tonfas as his main weapon when he’s recruited by Raiden into the tournament. However, Shao Kahn kills him in his first fight of the sequel, proving that nobody is safe in the “Mortal Kombat” universe.
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Quan Chi (Damon Herriman)
Damon Herriman voiced Kabal in the first “Mortal Kombat” movie, and now he plays the necromancer Quan Chi in the sequel. Alongside Shang Tsung, he’s hired by Shao Kahn to resurrect Kano and Kung Lao for the tournament, but he’s later defeated by the heroes.
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Shang Tsung (Chin Han)
Like the first movie, the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung can shapeshift and absorb people’s souls. He plots to steal Raiden’s powers in the sequel, but he’s stopped by the Earthrealm heroes.
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Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen)
Sindel is Shao Kahn’s queen and has an ear-piercing, super-strong scream attack. She’s killed by Sonya Blade in her first fight of the tournament.
English (US) ·