Karl Urban is reportedly in talks to play Johnny Cage in the Mortal Kombat 2 movie

Karl Urban is reportedly in final talks to play Johnny Cage in the next Mortal Kombat movie.

The Wrap claims The Boys star is set to portray the wise-cracking actor in Mortal Kombat 2, which is currently in the works at New Line Cinema.

While best known for his role as Billy Butcher in The Boys, Urban has also played Skurge the Executioner in Thor: Ragnarok and Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek movie reboot series.

Mortal Kombat 2 wouldn’t be Urban’s first role in a video game movie – he played the lead role in the 2005 film adaptation of Doom alongside Dwayne Johnson.

The upcoming movie is the sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat, which reportedly exceeded the expectations of Warner Bros by generating $22.5 million in its first weekend in the US despite opening during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has gone on to gross over $84 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Mortal Kombat 2 was written by Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight, The Umbrella Academy) and is set to be directed by Simon McQuoid, who helmed the previous film.

The news that Urban is close to signing up for the role may come as a disappointment to some wrestling fans, who were hoping WWE superstar Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin would get the role.

The Miz has expressed his desire to play Johnny Cage numerous times in the past, saying last year that he was working on his kicks and his ‘splits’ in preparation.

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon also seemingly endorsed Miz for the role on Twitter in 2021, responding to a photo Miz posted of himself as Johnny Cage by saying: “Guy makes a compelling case.”

Further reading

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Mortal Kombat 12 teaser hints at a possible timeline reset

"We're just getting started," a 30th anniversary video says

In February, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav stated during an earnings call that Mortal Kombat 12 – which until that point hadn’t been officially announced – will be released this year.

And earlier this week, a 30th anniversary video for the Mortal Kombat series potentially hinted that the next game could reset the timeline.