Mortal Kombat 2 casts Fast And Furious actor as Shao Kahn

The sequel to the 2021 Mortal Kombat live-action movie is nearly upon us as its cast of characters begins to take shape.

When the Mortal Kombat movie of 2021 arrived, it was the first live-action adaptation since Annihilation in 1997. Mortal Kombat (2021) was a spectacle of cheesy acting and over-the-top gore, the two key ideal ingredients for any product inspired by the popular franchise from NetherRealm Studios.

That being said, Mortal Kombat (2021) did receive mixed reviews. For example on Rotten Tomatoes, critics scored it 54%, while the audience gave it a score of 86%. Regardless, that didn't stop the writer from announcing plans to make a total of three movies as it surprised Warner Bros. with its commercial success.

Plans for Mortal Kombat 2 were afoot in January 2022, and it would see Simon McQuoid return to directorial duties. However, within the last month or so, its cast of characters has begun to roll in.

The Boys star, Karl Urban who plays Billy Butcher in the Amazon exclusive series has been cast as the charismatic and cocky, Johnny Cage. And now we’ve learned who will play the Emperor of the Outworld, Shao Kahn and it’s not Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

As reported by Polygon, the role of Shao Kahn will be played by a British 6ft 8” bodybuilder, who recently starred in Fast and Furious 9, Martyn Ford. Seriously, this bloke is an absolute beast and looks perfect for the role of Mortal Kombat’s main bad guy.

Elsewhere, Deadline also reports that Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) is to play King of Edenian, Jerrod, Damon Herriman (The Nightingale) is Quan Chi, Ana Thu Nguyen (Get Free) is Queen Sindel and Tati Gabrielle (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) will play Jade.

At this time, a release date for the Mortal Kombat 2 movie hasn't been announced, but hopefully, it will arrive by 2024 at the latest. In related news, we recently went hands-on with the Mortal Kombat 1 video game and it did not disappoint.