Warner Bros., New Line and director Simon McQuoid's Mortal Kombat sequel has now officially entered production in Australia, and the video game adaptation has cast several major new roles.
Martyn Ford (Red Sonja) will play villainous Outworld emperor Shao Kahn, Desmond Chiam (Joy Ride) will take on the role of Edenian King Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen (Suka) is on board as Queen Sindel, and Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time In Hollywood) will portray Netherrealm demon Quan Chi.
They join fellow new kombatants Karl Urban (The Boys, The Lord of the Rings movies) as Johnny Cage, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina stars Tati Gabrielle and Adeline Rudolph as Jade and Kitana, respectively.
Deadline has also confirmed that pretty much all of the main characters - even the ones that were (seemingly) killed off - from the first movie will return, with Lewis Tan back as Cole Young (ugh), Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.
Mortal Kombat didn't exactly achieve a flawless victory at the box office, but it performed well enough - especially as one of the first major Covid-era releases - to warrant a sequel. Reviews weren't great (54% on Rotten Tomatoes), but fans of the notoriously gruesome games seemed to embrace it (for the most part).
Will be actually get to see these fighters take part in the titular tournament this time? Let's bloody hope so!