‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Cast Guide: Who Lives, Who Dies and How They Compare to the Video Game Fighters

Home Film Lists May 8, 2026 4:30pm PT ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Cast Guide: Who Lives, Who Dies and How They Compare to the Video Game Fighters By Jordan Moreau Plus Icon Jordan Moreau Latest Brendan Fraser Is ‘Doing My Best’ for ‘Mummy 4’ Training: ‘Wish Me Luck’ to ‘Get This 57-Year-Old Gear in Shape’ 10 hours ago ‘Daredevil’ Boss on Matt’s Finale Reveal, the Defenders Reunion in Season 3 and When ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ Takes Place 2 days ago ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Star Nicholas Brendon’s Cause of Death Revealed 3 days ago See All ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for “Mortal Kombat II,” now playing in theaters. After five years, “Mortal Kombat” is back on the big screen with a sequel to the 2021 video game adaptation. And the roster of characters is even bigger than last time. The sequel, now playing in theaters, introduces fan-favorite fighters like Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Jade (Tati Gabrielle), Baraka (CJ Bloomfield) and the evil Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) as the Mortal Kombat tournament, a universe-crossing battle to the death, officially kicks off. The first movie introduced several of the video game characters, like Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) and Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), but it centered around a new protagonist named Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Now, Johnny Cage steps into the spotlight and faces off against ninjas, otherworldly monsters and resurrected demon fighters. Like the first movie and the video games, tons of characters die in horribly gruesome fatalities. Despite being the main character of the original movie, Cole Young is killed by Shao Kahn during an early round of the tournament, and Liu Kang meets a similar fate — but it looks like he could be brought back to life in a sequel. In the games, Liu Kang returns from the dead as a fire god, with similar elemental powers to Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). Once Johnny, Kitana and their Earthrealm allies kill Shao Kahn and win the tournament, they band together and search for their fallen friend. It seems like they’ll also look for a way to bring back Kung Lao (Max Huang), who died in the first movie but was resurrected and killed Liu Kang on behalf of Shao Kahn’s forces in the sequel. Take a look at who lives, who dies and who could be back for “Mortal Kombat III” below. Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) “The Boys” star Karl Urban joins the “Mortal Kombat” universe as Johnny Cage after the character was teased in the ending of the first movie. Johnny is a washed-up action star who’s thrown into the deadly tournament and must prove himself alongside much more powerful fighters. He’s known for cracking jokes and his “nut punch” special movie that he uses in the sequel against Baraka. After helping save Earthrealm, Johnny teams up with Kitana, Jade, Kano and Baraka to rescue Liu Kang.