Mortal Kombat: Jean Claude Van Damme is officially Johnny Cage

Has your stomach finally recovered from watching the Mortal Kombat 1 trailer yesterday? I know Mortal Kombat has never been a series full of sunshine and rainbows, but good lord the CGI gore in that reveal trailer took the squelch-factor to a whole new level.

In case you missed it, Mortal Kombat 1 kicks off a “reborn Mortal Kombat Universe created by the Fire God Liu Kang”, and will star Shang Tsung as the playable character. While we’re yet to see any actual gameplay, if the reveal trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be absolutely wild.

Take a look at the trailer for Mortal Kombat 1 below, but be warned - it’s very gory.

As Polygon reports, it’s been confirmed that one of the series’ most iconic characters, Johnny Cage (who will be included in the game alongside other classic fighters such as Kitana and Raiden), will be going back to his very earliest roots. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was the partial inspiration for the very first Mortal Kombat and Johnny Cage himself, will finally feature in the game as the fighter (albeit as a character skin).

Just last year, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon confirmed in an interview with Polygon that Van Damme had been asked multiple times in the past if he’d like to be included as a skin, but each time, he’d declined. Clearly, he's finally changed his mind.

The bad news though is that the Van Damme skin is being sold as an add-on - it’ll be part of the Kombat Pack DLC, which is included in the pricey Premium and Kollector’s Edition versions of the game (which cost $109.99 and $249.99, respectively). It’s not clear if the skin will also be sold separately.

Meanwhile in the magical world of film, Mortal Kombat 2 is currently in the works, and it’s thought that The Boys’ Karl Urban could be playing Johnny Cage. Previously though, Van Damme made it clear that he’d be interested in the role, so maybe he’ll end up in both the upcoming game and film? We’ll have to watch this space.