The Big Picture
- Mortal Kombat 2 is set for a October 24, 2025 release, featuring Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
- Creator Ed Boon hints at a potential Shaolin Monks spinoff with Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
- Simon McQuoid returns as director, expanding the Mortal Kombat universe with new characters.
An ancient tradition of fighting will live on when Mortal Kombat 2 premieres next year. Over the past few decades, the Mortal Kombat franchise has introduced audiences and gamers to a raft of new characters and fighting arenas, as the fight between good and evil rages on, both on game consoles and television screens. While the video games have long maintained their allure, live-action adaptations of Mortal Kombat never fared quite well. Until 2021, when the feature, Mortal Kombat, helped to change that narrative. Chief among the protagonists of the film were the characters of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, and now, it seems these masked, deadly enemies hold the key to the live-action future of the franchise.
Mortal Kombat 2has already wrapped filming with Warner Bros. announcing a release date of October 24, 2025, as the theatrical premiere of the sequel to the video game adaptation. The characters of Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) should make an appearance, with Sub-Zero presumably reincarnated as the undead Noob Saibot. The pair have been key to the franchise's narrative ever since its inception and, when quizzed regarding who might lead a Shaolin Monks style spinoff game should there ever be one, Mortal Kombat creator, Ed Boon, replied on X (formerly Twitter), saying: "Without a doubt, if (when?) we do one, it will be Scorpion and Sub-zero."
Released in 2005, the original Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was a beat 'em up that featured the characters of Liu Kang and Kung Lao, unlike the main series games. While Boon's comments don't suggest that a spinoff is coming in the immediate future, it does continue a trend of him suggesting that a Shaolin Monks style return is on the cards. The decision to put two of the franchise's most famous ninjas might prove to be a brilliant one in the end.
The Kunai-Wielding Ninja Returns
When Mortal Kombat 2 returns in 2025, it will see Simon McQuoid return to the director's chair after directing the 2021 feature. The sequel will see Cole Young (Lewis Tan) continue his journey as a central piece of the conflict between the Outworld and the Earthrealm. This time around, Cole will step out to find Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) just as the sequel adds other interesting characters like Martyn Ford and Adeline Rudolph as Shao Khan and Princess Kitana respectively, while we witness the arrival of the deadly necromancer, Quan Chi (Damon Herriman). However, an important cog in the sequel's wheel will be Sanada's Scorpion, whom the actor teases would have a far more prominent role than he did in the 2021 feature:
"Yeah, exactly, he was a bookend. 10 minutes and 10 minutes. [Laughs] It all depends on the editing, but yeah, I was there. It was a great reunion on set, most of the cast from the first movie, maybe four or five big new characters in it. The same director, and the same costume designer, it was fun. In the Australia Gold Coast, right after the strike, we started shooting, and we're all done now."
Mortal Kombat 2 premieres in theaters on October 24, 2025. Mortal Kombat is streaming now on Max in the U.S.
Mortal Kombat 2
Director Simon McQuoid Cast Lewis Tan , Karl Urban , Jessica McNamee , Mehcad Brooks , Tadanobu Asano , Ludi Lin , Chin Han , Joe Taslim , Hiroyuki Sanada , Josh Lawson , Max Huang , Tati Gabrielle , Adeline Rudolph , Martyn Ford , Desmond Chiam , Ana Thu Nguyen , Damon Herriman Main Genre Martial Arts Studio(s) New Line Cinema , Atomic Monster , Broken Road Productions Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Franchise(s) Mortal Kombat ExpandncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kurC%2B05qjZqOfoq%2BiwIysp6Kmn5uzbrzOrZynrJmWuXA%3D