Mortal Kombat II: "We didn't know what we didn't know in 2021"

Die-hard fans will be relieved to hear that Mortal Kombat II stages the long-promised tournament, as Earthrealm's champions, now joined by fan-favourite and Hollywood action star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), face the demonic warriors of Outworld in a no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat Shao Kahn.

It’s a direct sequel to the 2021 film, which, while lauded for its high-octane choreography, left some longtime followers of the video game series wanting more. Speaking at the sequel's press conference, producer Todd Garner was honest about what didn't land last time.

"We didn't know what we didn't know in 2021," he said. "It had been so long since a Mortal Kombat movie had been made that we made some assumptions of how to get into the story that the fans didn't need.

"What's great about Mortal Kombat fans is they're incredibly vocal. They play the games religiously, they know all the canon. So we said you can either ignore it, or you can take it in and learn from it and apply different rules and different logic to the second one, which we did."

Mortal Kombat II also brings in one of the series' most beloved characters: Johnny Cage, the martial-arts movie star and self-styled showman, played by Karl Urban. Writer Jeremy Slater said reinventing the franchise's traditional comic-relief lead was a priority.

"We knew we had a promise to keep from the end of the last movie: the tournament is coming and Johnny Cage is going to be one of the fighters," Slater said. "Traditionally, Johnny's been the comic relief, the funny guy who throws out a few quips. We decided early on, 'No, let's really go on a journey with this guy.' To do that, you have to reinvent the character a little. Start him from a more vulnerable position, a guy who maybe had it all at one point and then lost it and is seeing it all slip through his fingers. It made him easier to relate to."

For Urban, the role meant the steepest physical learning curve of his career.

"Well, I gotta say, coming into Mortal Kombat II was hands down the most challenging physical undertaking that I've ever embarked on when it comes to a production," Urban said. "The skill set required was definitely an exponential learning curve. And I'd be lying to say that I didn't feel a little bit terrified.

"I mean, you're stepping into a movie with martial artists who are accomplished, like Ludi and Max and Lewis and Joe, and they are all so fantastic at what they do. But we didn't waste a minute. I remember landing in Brisbane and getting driven straight to a stunt rehearsal session.

"I had my bags and I was like, 'Okay, here you go.' So the entry was real. But I think all of us really recognised the importance of getting it right. This is a film that has been made by fans and I think all of the cast felt the responsibility of that and invested a significant amount of time and energy into training."

Mortal Kombat II

The physical demands extended to the film's prosthetic-heavy villain too. Martin Ford, who depicts warlord Shao Kahn under a small mountain of latex and armour, describes some of the prep involved.

"The actual performance of the stunts and the movements while in costume was challenging," Ford said. "Not just trying to perform the moves with restriction from the outfit, prosthetics, and the helmet, but also the preparation. This was for me often a 2:00 AM call time. Before that, the craziness in me decided to go to a gym and train before work because Todd told me under no circumstance was I allowed to let it slip.

"My day would start at 12:00 midnight, pickup was normally around 2:00 or 2:30 AM, then four to five hours in prosthetics and costume. Fighting in the armour was a challenge, trying to make the dance look smooth and having a flow to sell the fight. One challenging day was when the gloves got wet, there's about a litre of sweat coming out of the hand. When you're swinging a hammer that's about four feet in size and extremely heavy and it slips out your hand and hits one of the stage lights... I still haven't paid the debt for that yet."

The sequel also rebalances a gender ratio that left Jessica McNamee's Sonya Blade as the lone woman in the first film. Adeline Rudolph joins as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, and Sindel completes the new contingent. Director Simon McQuoid said the expansion was deliberate.

"Going into the second one, I wanted to rebalance and up the female representation, and that's why Kitana, Sindel, and Jade are in this movie," McQuoid said. "Because Jess was there on her own with all the dudes in the first one, and so that was really important to me and it was important to everyone. And there's a lot of really amazing female characters in Mortal Kombat, so it was really a question of just bringing those in and sort of seeing what they had to offer and bringing their strength in as well. So, it was easy for me because it needed to be done."

McNamee touched on the changes in dynamic on set.

"I walked off the set of that first one and I had become a dude myself," she said. "It was so weird getting back from that job and putting on a pair of heels, I was like, 'What are these?' So it was really nice. And there was such a different change on set, the dynamic was completely different this time around just because it was way more balanced."

Rudolph meanwhile, said pulling on the Kitana costume for the first time was a milestone moment, crediting designer Cappi Ireland for outfits that worked as hard as they looked.

"Really genuinely stepping into that costume for the very first time was like a 'holy crap, this is happening, I am Kitana and this is all coming together,'" she said. "She was so wonderful in collaborating with us as well and making sure that our costumes were comfortable for the actual fight scenes. It's a corset at the end of the day, but very comfortable to fight in and it just really made the character come to life for sure."

For Gabrielle, who grew up with the games, the role carried added weight.

"I think people are used to seeing these characters from maybe more of a male gaze, or a 'sexier-fied' version," she said. "To see them with such strength and grace, to carry both their vulnerability and their emotions coupled with their ferocity, has been such a joy. For me, Jade was one of my biggest inspirations as a kid. I played the game, I did martial arts, and she was one of the only examples that I had. To know that I can be an example for other young girls is just a joy."

• Mortal Kombat II is out now.