Mortal Kombat II looks to be making some big changes to the movie franchise after the first film was largely seen as a disappointment. Based on the trailer for Mortal Kombat II, it seems like Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage will lead the cast of the sequel, which will feature Earthrealm’s champions fighting in a high-stakes tournament against Outworld.

In addition to Johnny Cage, the trailer for the highly anticipated sequel has given us our first look at all the other new characters set to appear in Mortal Kombat II, such as Kitana, Jade, Baraka, Sindel, and Shao Kahn. With all these new inclusions, it seems like the upcoming Mortal Kombat II will be way better than the first movie.

Despite the mᴀssive popularity of the video games, the Mortal Kombat franchise has always struggled to find success on the big screen. Thankfully, based on the first trailer, it seems like the upcoming sequel is the Mortal Kombat movie fans have been waiting decades for. Interestingly, this is largely because Mortal Kombat II feels more like a reboot, rather than a sequel.

Mortal Kombat 2’s Johnny Cage Focus Makes It Come Across As A Reboot

Johnny Cage Was Not Included In The First Movie

Even though Liu Kang is traditionally the main character in most Mortal Kombat video games, the first movie, which was released in 2021, featured Cole Young as its primary protagonist. This proved to be a divisive decision, especially since Cole Young was created solely for the movie franchise and has never appeared in any of the games.

Since there are plenty of amazing characters in the Mortal Kombat video games, this decision baffled many fans. It didn’t help that Cole Young wasn’t really an interesting character in the 2021 film. The ending of the first movie revealed that he is a descendant of Scorpion, but not even this made fans want to see Cole Young take on major villains like Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn.

Therefore, instead of more naturally continuing the story of the first movie and once again following Cole Young, it seems like Mortal Kombat II is going to sideline him in favor of Johnny Cage. This makes much more sense since Johnny Cage is one of the most popular characters in the video game series. Additionally, Urban is easily the most recognizable actor in the cast of Mortal Kombat II.

However, the trailer focusing mostly on Johnny Cage makes Mortal Kombat II feel more like a reboot than a sequel. Based on the trailer, it seems like Sonya Blade and Raiden will recruit Johnny Cage to fight for Earthrealm and then explain the rules of the tournament to him. Since Johnny Cage is a new fighter, this makes sense. However, these rules, along with the necessary background information about the franchise, were already explained to us in the 2021 movie.

Therefore, by choosing to follow a brand-new character, it seems like Mortal Kombat II is going to repeat a lot of information that fans of the movie franchise already know. Sure, storylines like the rivalry between Scorpion and Bi-Han and Kano’s relationship with the other Earthrealm fighters will pick up from the ending of the first movie. However, overall, Mortal Kombat II feels like a soft reboot.

Mortal Kombat 2 Not Feeling Like A True Sequel Could Be A Good Thing

Mortal Kombat 2 Could Be Way Better Than The First Movie

Mortal Kombat II repeating information that was already provided to us in the first movie could slow down the pacing, but hopefully the sequel includes enough action to make up for this. If there is indeed enough action and fights to keep audiences entertained, which the trailer suggests there will be, then treating the sequel like a soft reboot might actually be a good thing.

After all, fans of the franchise had many complaints about the first movie. In addition to not liking Cole Young, fans were also disappointed that the first film didn’t feature an actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Thankfully, this is a mistake that the sequel won’t repeat. After Johnny Cage gets recruited, it seems like Mortal Kombat II will be entirely focused on the tournament.

Since the first movie wasn’t regarded as very good by most fans, it’s better that Mortal Kombat II is “rebooting” the franchise, rather than trying to continue a story that most people weren’t responding to. Instead of forcing Cole Young on fans and making him fight Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat II, it’ll be much better to watch a character like Johnny Cage take on the Outworld emperor.

Overall, it’s a good thing that the creative team behind the movie franchise listened to fans’ complaints about the first film. The sequel already looks amazing, and Shao Kahn actor Martyn Ford claimed that Mortal Kombat II’s trailer doesn’t feature any of the best parts of the movie. Therefore, it truly seems like Mortal Kombat II will be the movie that fans of the franchise have been begging for for years.