Mortal Kombat has stabbed, punched, and sliced its way into our hearts. Fans of the game franchise are loving the faithful way the characters and tone were brought to the big screen and the very healthy box office is a good hint that mainstream audiences are interested in seeing several flavors of magic ninja dismember one another.
All of which means Mortal Kombat 2 is inevitable, especially as the back end of the movie was loaded with sequel hooks. The core element will almost certainly be the next Mortal Kombat tournament to decide the fate of Earthrealm, with our characters ending the film on the hunt for Earth’s new champions.
But for all the cool stuff in the pic, there’s one big thing missing. We get the entire roster of characters from the original 1992 arcade game, save for nut-smashing movie star Johnny Cage, who was teased in the closing moments of the film. Fans have been busily fantasy casting him, with Keanu Reeves and Chris Pratt early frontrunners. But once folks began imagining Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds in the role, they now won’t settle for anything less.
Reynolds has acknowledged this as well by posting a mock-up of him in Mortal Kombat II as part of a promo for Mint Wireless. And the fans, predictably, went nuts, as you can see below.
Ryan Reynolds confirmed for Johnny Cage, got it.
— James Viscardi (@JimViscardi) April 28, 2021
Ryan Reynolds really should be cast as Johnny Cage if the new MK movie gets a sequel, I'm just saying
— MegaMatt (@MegamattX86) April 29, 2021
WE WANT RYAN REYNOLDS AS JOHNNY CAGE!!!!
— eric stevens (@ericste75303582) April 28, 2021
— Chris Hasson (@watchallirish) April 28, 2021
The director of Mortal Kombat jokingly mentioned in an interview about Reynolds playing Cage in the sequel so Ryan didn't start this one… lol.
— Vamp (@Vampyre269) April 28, 2021
This needs to happen. This is too good not to be real. It’s like Willem Dafoe as Joker level of perfect casting that has yet to materialize. pic.twitter.com/SpwQKuthMy
— 🧠EctoBurger 🧠(@EctoBurger) April 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/jessicadoke/status/1387529287998316548?s=20
We need you as Johnny Cage man! 😠pic.twitter.com/CMXHlrFbzI
— Steven (@StevenTheMan13) April 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/Quarky_Hiker/status/1387522929341042693?s=20
https://twitter.com/frank_jaeger19/status/1387497424227287042
https://twitter.com/kayeezus_/status/1387524435037409281
ryan reynolds is JOHNNY CAGE!
— eric stevens (@ericste75303582) April 28, 2021
Like most people, I’m hoping Warner Bros. will strike while the iron’s hot and quickly order a follow-up. They already have an impressive cast in place (presumably with sequels baked into their contracts), and writer Greg Russo has also been kicking around various aspects that he’d like to focus on going forward, explaining in an interview that he wants to feature more of Liu Kang’s Shaolin monks and also the special forces team that Sonya Blade and Jax are members of.
Whatever the case, the awesome fatalities in Mortal Kombat have only whet my appetite for more. Right now, I feel like we’re at the end of round 1 and want round 2 to begin as soon as possible – let’s aim for a Double Flawless Victory.
