Major casting news suggests that The Boys star Karl Urban is finalizing his role as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2. A sequel to the live-action Mortal Kombat film released in 2021, the new film will introduce the fan favorite character after a noticeable absence in the first installment. It was recently reported that filming would take place in Australia this summer, and now, TheWrap reports that Urban is in "final talks" to take on the role of the master of the Shadow Kick. As the casting is apparently not yet official, there hasn't been a public announcement made about Urban's involvement by Warner Bros. or the actor.

There had been a lot of speculation about who would be playing Johnny Cage in the new Mortal Kombat film. WWE Superstar Mike "The Miz" Mizanin was a popular pick with fans, and the wrestler had even publicly campaigned for the role. Joel McHale was another name that has come up, as the Community star has voiced an animated version of Johnny Cage. While Urban's name wasn't coming up often with the fantasy casting online, chances are it won't have too many people feeling upset, given the actor's versatile talents and immense popularity.

Johnny Cage is a character who was a part of the original Mortal Kombat game and has since remained one of the franchises' most popular characters. He is depicted as a celebrity, both as a championship fighter and star of action movies. The character most often wears sunglasses and is known for his cocky attitude. The character was played by Linden Ashby in the original live-action Mortal Kombat adaptation.

Urban can currently be seen as one of the lead stars of The Boys, the superhero series that streams on Prime Video. When it comes to film, he can be recognized for his many roles, from the Star Trek and Lord of the Rings franchises to his roles in movies like Thor: Ragnarok, Dredd, and Pete's Dragon. More recently, he voiced a lead role in Netflix's animated movie The Sea Beast.

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The Battles Continue in Mortal Kombat 2

There's no word yet on which other video game characters will be brought in that didn't appear in the first film. Kitana is another popular fighter that fans have called to appear in the sequel, though no casting rumors have yet come forth regarding that character. What we know is that the new film will bring back director Simon McQuoid, who's using a screenplay penned by Moon Knight writer Jeremy Slater. Sub-Zero actor Joe Taslim has also said he's signed on to potentially appear in up to four sequels, so chances are he'll be back in the film as well.

The first film's cast also included Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, and Josh Lawson as Kano.

Mortal Kombat 2 doesn't yet have a set release date.