The New Mortal Kombat Movie Has To Avoid This Johnny Cage Mistake
Movie star and Jean-Claude Van Damme expy Johnny Cage has always been an odd duck in the eclectic mix of gods, wizards, monsters, and assassins found in "Mortal Kombat." Still, he's been part of the franchise since the beginning and continues to kick opponents in 2023's "Mortal Kombat 1." Considering his prominence, it's no surprise that Cage is making his way to the "Mortal Kombat 2" movie as well. However, to get the best out of the character, the film needs to avoid the classic mistake of making him too overpowered.
From his funny dialogue and action film star backstory to the giant "Johnny" tattoo on his chest, the character's entire personality is that of a supremely confident-seeming guy who's nevertheless aware of his position as a comparatively regular underdog dude. After all, he simply tried to boost his career in a cool martial arts tournament, only to find himself in the middle of a never-ending, dimension-hopping battle for the entire world's survival. Yet, the games have a nasty habit of making Cage one of the superhuman characters instead of keeping him in the everyman role. He becomes more and more heroic and his legend grows, right up until 2011's "Mortal Kombat" reboot game outright reimagines him as a magical "chosen one."
"Mortal Kombat 1" strips Cage of his magic but not of his prowess, as he's considered a pretty overpowered character. As such, he remains a pretty special guy — someone who can hang with all the creatures and magic users and beat them up despite having no particular supernatural powers of his own. To return the character to his likable jerk roots, then, the movie version of Cage should avoid this approach like the plague and focus on his everyman aspects.
The first movie's lore is concerning, but casting Karl Urban is a great sign
Karl Urban plays Johnny Cage in "Mortal Kombat 2," and honestly, that just might be the best thing that can happen to the character. As he's demonstrated time and time again in roles like Billy Butcher on "The Boys," Skurge in "Thor: Ragnarok," Éomer in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, and Dr. McCoy in the Kelvin timeline "Star Trek" movies, Urban is an expert at portraying comparative everymen who find themselves in the middle of fantastic events. He may be just the perfect guy to bring everyone's favorite obnoxious movie star Kombatant to life.
In the other corner, however, is the way the 2021 "Mortal Kombat" movie handles its characters' powers. The film essentially treats the assorted fighters' special abilities as "Arcana" superpowers that can be awakened with adequate focus and training. This makes pretty much every major character a "chosen one" archetype, which is precisely the thing that should be avoided when it comes to Cage.
Casting "The Boys"-era Urban in the role is a pretty clear sign that the movie fully intends to embrace the character's snarky side, and the actor's CV makes it pretty clear that he has what it takes to portray a version of Johnny Cage for the ages. Knowing this, even with the whole "Arcana" thing at play, there's a decent chance that whatever weird powers this Mr. Cage may or may not unlock won't magically change his underdog status ... if only because the first movie already played that card with Cole Young (Lewis Tan).