Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid is back at the helm for the sequel Mortal Kombat 2, and while the video game adaptation wrapped production back in January of 2024 after a bumpy ride through the year of the strikes, they had to go back for some reshoots last summer. The movie will finally be making its way out into theatres on October 24th – and screenwriter Jeremy Slater, who was the lead writer on the Marvel / Disney+ series Moon Knight, has said that test screening audience responses have been so enthusiastic, they’re on the level of the reaction he (and many other movie-goers) had to Avengers: Endgame.
The sequel stars returning Mortal Kombat cast members Lewis Tan as MMA fighter Cole Young, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, 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. New additions include Karl Urban (Dredd) as Johnny Cage, Adeline Rudolph (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Princess Kitana; Tati Gabrielle (You) as Jade, the friend and bodyguard of Princess Kitana; Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Netherrealm demon Quan Chi; bodybuilder/actor Martyn Ford (F9: The Fast Saga) as Outworld emperor Shao Kahn; Ana Thu Nguyen (Suka) as Kahn’s wife Queen Sindel; and Desmond Chiam (Joy Ride) as Jerrod, who was the King of Edenia (and married to Sindel) until Edenia’s warriors lost in the Mortal Kombat tournament.
Slater told ComicBook.com, “I’m so excited for people to see the movie. It’s been done for a while. We’ve been waiting for the right release date and waiting for the right window. I have been to those test screenings, which are full of Mortal Kombat fans, and watching them react to it the way I reacted to Avengers: Endgame. They were cheering and jumping out of their seats. Every joke is landing and they are loving it. It’s one of the greatest moments of my life. That’s why you get into this business.” As for his approach to writing the script, he said, “We came in with certain guide posts that were already in place. The previous movie promised there was a tournament coming and that Johnny Cage was going to be part of the story, somehow. Those were the two things we knew we had to work with and around. I was adamant that we had to have this tournament in the movie. We can’t make people wait another movie and then be like, ‘Come back for the finale.’ It was finding a structure to make the tournament as satisfying as you want it to be because this had years of build-up. It’s figuring out who the individual matches are going to be, which characters do you pair off for maximum emotional impact, but also for the most dynamic fights. Then, also, what is the larger story you are telling between the tournament? I was very cognizant that we need to be telling a story on the margins where there is just as much exciting stuff happening outside of the tournament as inside of the tournament, so you’re never bored and both of these stories are moving the movie forward.“
To read more of the interview, click over to ComicBook.com.
What do you think of what Jeremy Slater had to say about Mortal Kombat 2 and the audience reactions? Are you looking forward to this movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
