Even with Mortal Kombat II still eight months away from release, New Line has begun preparing for the third installment of the video-game-adapted film franchise.
With Mortal Kombat III being announced at this year’s New York Comic-Con, fans are already wondering who will helm the third installment. Jeremy Slater, the executive producer and writer of the sequel, is in talks to pen a script for the third feature as well. Slater is known for creating the Disney+ Marvel series Moon Knight, along with the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, alongside Steve Blackman. Producer Todd Garner, who worked on Mortal Kombat II, is set to return to production. Garner produced the sequel alongside James Wan, Toby Emmerich, E. Bennett Walsh, and Simon McQuoid, who also directed the first two installments.
The original video-game franchise, created by Ed Boon and John Tobias in 1992, was an arcade game from Midway Games, focusing on hand-to-hand combat against a simple background. For the original 2021 film, Lewis Tan starred as Cole Young, “an MMA fighter facing off against Outworld enemies in a high-stakes battle for the universe.” For the sequel, it will expand on the worldbuilding of the first feature, with “fan favorite champions” matched against one another in the ultimate, no-holds-barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.” Kahn will be played by Martyn Ford, while a fan favorite, Johnny Cage, will be portrayed by Karl Urban.
Other returning cast members include Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi, and Max Huang as Kung Lao. Along with Urban, new cast members include Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Desmond Chiam as King Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel and CJ Bloomfield as Baraka.
Unlike the 2021 release of Mortal Kombat, which grossed approximately $84 million worldwide due to its simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max because of the COVID pandemic, Mortal Kombat II will be receiving the full box office experience with “an exclusive theatrical release.” Mortal Kombat II is set to release in theaters on May 15th, 2026.
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