The Mortal Kombat cast has weighed in on who could play Johnny Cage in the potential sequel, and Kano actor Josh Lawson has nominated James Marsden. In the Mortal Kombat reboot, which was released in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, Johnny Cage was nowhere to be seen. If a sequel ends up getting made, Johnny will more than likely arrive early into the next movie, given the way Mortal Kombat ends.

As of now, Mortal Kombat 2 doesn't yet have its greenlight, so the sequel is still not officially confirmed. Director Simon McQuoid has suggested that this will be up to the fans, but the movie's success at the box office over the weekend can only help its chances of getting a followup movie. Because of this, nobody has yet been cast in the role of the fan favorite fighter, leading to great speculation from fans as to just whom it might be.

In a recent chat with CinemaBlend, some of the reboot's cast members were asked about the Johnny Cage situation. Josh Lawson, who many fans say totally stole the show as Kano, has chosen James Marsden as his pick for the role. From his point of view, Lawson feels Marsden simply has the right "vibe" to play the cocky Shadow Kicker. As Lawson explains:

"Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again. The one person I kept thinking about, and he's a buddy of mine, James Marsden. I just, I dunno, he's got a Johnny Cage vibe to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but yeah, something about it. He's got that Hollywood look, you know, and I think he could, I think he could pull it off."

Marsden should be able to slip into a role like Johnny Cage, given his experience in the action genre as Cyclops in the X-Men trilogy. More recently, Marsden appeared in a lead role in last year's hit video game adaptation Sonic the Hedgehog, and the actor is currently working on the upcoming sequel. He also appears in the Netflix black comedy series Dead to Me with Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini.

Two-time WWE Champion The Miz has also volunteered to play Johnny Cage, so Marsden isn't the only name that's been put forth as an option. Many WWE fans have supported The Miz's campaign to get the role as well, feeling that his wrestling character is basically Johnny Cage already. Whoever will ultimately get the role, Sonya Blade actress Jessica McNamee regaled to CinemaBlend that it just needs to be someone who's able to nail the audition, as the rest of them all had to.

"I'm not sure. It's really tough. I don't know. I'm of the mind that I'd like to make them audition. Like we had to audition, make them go through the hard storms like we had to. No, but I would love to see it. You what would be a great for me? I would love if I got to go in on the auditions and audition against people. I've always wanted to do that. So I'm going to have to just leave it up to see who puts their hat in the ring."

Meanwhile, Jax actor Mehcad Brooks is also unsure who should play Johnny Cage, but agrees with McNamee's suggestion that the actor will first need to prove themselves capable.

"It would have to be somebody who could fight. Every actor has really, really brought everything that they could to the table when it comes to doing their own fight scenes. So, we'd have to keep that up, I think, and also have to be somebody who can pull up the comedy. So I don't have anybody, I don't have any favorites. I think there's plenty of good options out there and I think that's a penthouse problem that we're willing to deal with. Because that means there's a sequel."

In the original Mortal Kombat movie adaptation, Johnny Cage was played by Linden Ashby. This version of Johnny Cage was also made available as a playable fighter in the video game Mortal Kombat 11. Chris Conrad briefly took over the role in the panned sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. More recently, the character was voiced by Joel McHale in last year's animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. Mortal Kombat is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. This news comes to us from CinemaBlend.