In response to the Covid pandemic, Warner Bros. gave all of their 2021 films day-and-date theatrical and Max streaming releases – and one movie that really benefited from the streaming side of that strategy was the video game adaptation Mortal Kombat, released in April of 2021. As reported by Business Insider, Mortal Kombat had the best weekend of any of the Warner Bros. releases on Max, with a total of 3.8 million viewers during its first few days. In addition to that, the film, which cost $55 million to make, earned $83.6 million at the global box office. So, within months of its release, Warner Bros. was already developing sequels and spinoffs. The first follow-up will be making its way into theatres sometime in 2025 – and here’s everything we know about Mortal Kombat 2.

DIRECTOR

Commercial director Simon McQuoid made his feature directorial debut with the 2021 Mortal Kombat, following in the footsteps of Paul W.S. Anderson, who directed a popular 1995 film based on the video game franchise, and John R. Leonetti, who was the cinematographer on the ’95 Mortal Kombat before being promoted to director on the poorly-received 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. McQuoid landed the job because producer Todd Garner was impressed by a Duracell commercial he directed, which was set in the Star Wars universe.

McQuoid actually turned down the job offer at first. As he explained to The Hollywood Reporter, he told his agent, “The first movie out, I think it shouldn’t be a video game. I’ve done video game commercials, and I get it, but let’s try to get something other than that.” But then, he was won over by the script and agreed to make the movie. And since the movie turned out to be a success, the producers and Warner Bros. decided to have McQuoid return to the helm for the sequel.

WRITER

Greg Russo and Dave Callaham received screenplay credit on Mortal Kombat ’21, with Russo also credited for crafting the story with Oren Uziel, working from the ideas presented in the video game franchise created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. That film had the following synopsis: MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage — or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana — the immense power from within his soul — in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

A synopsis hasn’t been revealed for Mortal Kombat 2 yet, but we do know who wrote the script: in January of 2022, it was announced that Jeremy Slater, who was the lead writer on Marvel’s Moon Knight series and created the TV series based The Exorcist, had been hired to write the sequel. Soon after the announcement, the writer spoke with The Direct to give an update on the script and tease that the filmmakers learned from the mistakes of the first movie. Slater said, “It’s really fun so far. We’re about halfway through the script. I’m working really closely with the director and the studios, and the game guys, and I think—I can’t say anything about the actual story, but I think they definitely learned some lessons the last time around in terms of, ‘Here’s the stuff fans responded to, and here’s what people liked out of the movie, and here’s the stuff that didn’t work out as well as we hoped.’” He added that they’re viewing the Mortal Kombat sequel as “the chance to take everything that worked in the first one and do it even better and give the audience even more, and make something that is just incredibly satisfying, and really exciting, and unpredictable.” He went into this job wanting to make the Mortal Kombat sequel that no one is expecting, one that can sneak in and “blow everyone away.“

CAST

Lewis Tan played Cole Young in Mortal Kombat, a new character who had some mysterious ties to the mythology of the series. He reprises the role in the sequel – and before production started, he told Film Updates, that he hoped Mortal Kombat 2 would be bigger and bloodier than the first movie. “We got an amazing writer, Jeremy Slater, who wrote Moon Knight for Marvel, on board. His writing is really good and he’s really smart. I’m excited to see what he develops, because it’s a tricky one with Mortal Kombat. There are so many storylines. It’s very complex; there are so many characters. It’s a hard one to get done in a two-hour period or an hour and a half. Hopefully, they can make the sequel a little bit longer and we can explore more characters and more themes, and just make it even bloodier and even bigger than the first one. That’s our plan.”

In addition to Tan, cast members returning from the previous Mortal Kombat movie are Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.

Now, the new additions. Fans have been anxiously waiting to see the Johnny Cage character, and there were a lot of fan casting suggestions: Ryan Reynolds, James Marsden, wrestler The Miz. That last one was such a popular bit of fan-casting, The Miz even told ComicBook.com that he had been hitting the gym to make sure he would be prepared to play the character if he got the call. “I have been working on my splits. I’ve been working on my kicks. As soon as I saw that Mortal Kombat was out and there was no Johnny Cage yet and my name was literally trending worldwide No.1, ‘We want Miz as Johnny Cage’, I was like, ‘if they want that to happen, I need to basically make sure that I am prepared and ready if that opportunity presents itself, then I will be ready and focused.” But, the job didn’t go to The Miz. Instead, it was The Boys star Karl Urban who was cast to play Johnny Cage. And it sounds like he had a blast working on the project. He wrote on social media that Mortal Kombat 2 was “hands down the most action packed fun I’ve ever had on a film!“

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actress Adeline Rudolph was cast to play Princess Kitana, who is 10,000 years old and the stepdaughter of the evil Shao Khan. Rudolph’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina co-star Tati Gabrielle was cast as Jade, the friend and bodyguard of Princess Kitana.

Bodybuilder/actor Martyn Ford (F9: The Fast Saga) landed the role of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn, with Ana Thu Nguyen (Suka) as Kahn’s wife Queen Sindel, Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Netherrealm demon Quan Chi, and Desmond Chiam (Joy Ride) as Jerrod, who was the King of Edenia (and married to Sindel) until Edenia’s warriors lost in the Mortal Kombat tournament. It looks like we’ll be seeing a flashback to Jerrod’s downfall in this movie. Speaking to ComingSoon, Ford, who also played Goliath in the Prime Video series House of David said that Shao Khan was a dream role. “The last few years I’ve had a massive opportunity to play various characters of stature. It just seems like one dream happens and the next one comes. The last three characters I’ve played have been Flamma (in Those About to Die), who is a gladiator within history, the greatest gladiator of all time. Then Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 2, and then to play Goliath just topped it off. So for me, I’m not sure where I go from this as far as baddies are concerned. I think I’ve probably hit three of the greatest baddies of all time and Goliath being the ultimate icing on the cake.“

Ludi Lin told Screen Rant the sequel is “gonna be pretty immense, everything is going to be bigger. The story’s going to be great. Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, I hope you guys are ready, because he’s going to blow your socks off.” He said that Urban fills out the role of Johnny Cage, and the essence that he brings to the character adds another dimension to it, helping bring the movie to the next level.

Speaking with The Direct, Lawson took a moment to hype up the return of his character Kano, who was killed in the first movie. “I can say that in the second Mortal Kombat, Kano has a new chapter in his life, that being death. And, you know, death alters you. So yeah, prepare yourselves for a Kano 2.0. As we all know, if anyone’s a fan of games, Kano’s alliances can change at the drop of a hat, and that’s certainly true in the second one… [It’s going to] keep you on your toes guessing [about] who Kano’s kind of siding with.“

PRODUCTION

Mortal Kombat 2 started filming in June of 2023 – but hadn’t been rolling for long before production had to shut down due to the writers and actors strikes. After a four month break, filming resumed in November and wrapped in January of 2024. James Wan’s Atomic Monster and Michael Clear are producing Mortal Kombat 2 alongside Broken Road Production’s Todd Garner. Simon McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh are also producers on the film. Also more involved in the process this time around was Mortal Kombat video game co-creator Ed Boon.

Lewis Tan also told ComicBook.com, “Now, we have Ed Boon with us as well, so we got the stamp of approval from the legend himself. #2 is just going to be absolutely insane. Way bigger.” Ed Boon told Polygon, “Warner Bros. owns the IP, but I’m actually more involved now. I’m involved with the animated series, and the next movie that’s coming out, so it’s very exciting, because there’s some really cool stuff that’s being worked on. Just being involved in the scripts and which characters we’re going to include [in projects], and all that stuff, is very exciting for me. Before, I was involved, but not in an official capacity. Now, it’s a little bit more official. And it’s an exciting time — I can’t wait to see people’s reaction to some of the crazy stuff that’s coming out.“

The 2021 Mortal Kombat was rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references. In November of 2024, we learned that sequel has been rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, and language.

As production came to an end, producer Todd Garner took to social media to share some behind-the-scenes images, while cast members also celebrated the successful completion of the film.

In February of 2025, the film’s logo and a Johnny Cage poster were unveiled:

And that’s everything we know about Mortal Kombat 2… for now.