'The Boys' Lead Karl Urban in talks to Play Johnny Cage in 'Mortal Kombat 2'

by Darian Scalamoni

    Karl Urban has made a name for himself throughout the years across many different iconic franchises. However, no role has received more acclaim than his current run as Billy Butcher on Amazon Prime Video's raunchy, comic book adaptation of The Boys. Now, Urban is in talks to join another iconic franchise, this time, in the video game world.

    Urban (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings) is currently in talks to join the upcoming sequel to WBD's Mortal Kombat film that released back in 2021. If Urban signs on, he'll play fan-favorite Johnny Cage, who was teased at the end of the first movie. The news was first reported by The Wrap.

    The character of Johnny Cage was originally based off the action star Jean-Claude Van Damme but as the franchise has gone on, he's established his own personality as a brash Hollywood star similar to that of someone like Deadpool serving as comic relief in what is life or death circumstances within the realm of Mortal Kombat. In the video games, Cage and Sonya Blade have a daughter named Cassie Cage. Within the rebooted first film, Sonya Blade is portrayed by Jessica McNamee. 

    Director Simon McQuoid is set to return to the sequel with Moon Knight writer Jeremy Slater set to pen the film. James Wan will return to produce the pic that currently does not have a release date, however, with casting seemingly underway, we should get news on that sooner than later.

    In addition to The Boys, Urban most recently voiced lead character Jacob Holland in Netflix's Oscar-nominated animated film, The Sea Beast. He'll next lend his voice to Ark: the Animated Series which has an all-star voice cast including Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh.