TheWrap is reporting that Karl Urban is in final negotiations with New Line to join the cast for the sequel to Mortal Kombat as fan favourite character Johnny Cage.

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In the 2021 original film we follow Cole Young, an MMA fight accustomed to taking a beating for money, who is unaware of his heritage, or why Outworld’s Sorcerer Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt him 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 from Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.

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Karl Urban (whose credits include Dredd and The Boys) could potentially play Johnny Cage, a central character in the video game franchise who is presented as an action movie star with a martial arts background. In the 1995 film, he was portrayed by Linden Ashby.

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The 2021 film earned $86.3m worldwide when some countries came out of lockdown during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on HBO Max it would be one of the most viewed Warner Bros. films that was released last year on the streaming service, with the film being viewed in 5.6m households in the U.S during the first month. It was reported in January last year that Jeremy Slater was brought on board to write the script for the sequel, with Simon McQuoid returning to direct.

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The 2021 film starred Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Tadanobu Asano, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Max Haung, Sisi Stringer, Nathan Jones, Daniel Nelson, Damon Herriman, Mel Jarnson, Angus Sampson, Matilda Kimber and Laura Brent.