The Mortal Kombat video games have featured several versions of Johnny Cage through the years, and the recent film includes a clue as to which one may be coming in Mortal Kombat 2. Cage was the reboot’s most glaring absence and the only fighter from the original arcade game not to be included in the movie. Fortunately for Johnny Cage fans, Mortal Kombat’s final scene confirmed his inclusion in the tentative sequel, though Cage may be better suited for a spinoff.
Over the years since his 1992 debut, several different versions of Johnny Cage have battled on the fields of kombat. The character has been both comic-relief side character and lead protagonist, and the franchise’s various time travel storylines have also created multiple temporal versions of Cage. While his core personality and abilities have remained mostly the same through those changes, the character has constantly continued to evolve. So which version will fans be seeing in the next Mortal Kombat movie?
That question may have already been answered in the reboot’s final scene. After revealing that he’s on his way to Los Angeles in search of someone, Cole Young walks past a movie poster for Citizen Cage, a clear parody of the classic film Citizen Kane, starring Johnny Cage himself. This scene serves as the greatest possible clue that Young is searching for Johnny Cage, who'll no doubt appear in the sequel. That specific fake film has been mentioned once before in the video games – specifically, in Mortal Kombat 9, which acted as a soft reboot to the whole franchise. The decision to use Citizen Cage suggests that the MK filmmakers have paid particular attention to the more recent games, which could mean that when Johnny Cage is introduced in the sequel, he’ll be closest to that version of the character.
What exactly does that mean? The Mortal Kombat 9 version of Johnny Cage, who could be played by WWE's The Miz, enters the tournament as a publicity stunt to revitalize his stagnating movie career. He wants to prove that he’s still an action icon worthy of public praise. That could mean that the new movie version of Cage will be a little washed up and worse for wear, desperate for a chance to rekindle some kind of fire in his life. Given how the Mortal Kombat reboot has tied all characters’ powers into their arcana, that down-and-out arc for Cage could play into his own arcana’s awakening in some interesting ways.
Mortal Kombat 9 also changes Johnny Cage’s backstory significantly, making him the descendant of a Mediterranean cult that bred warriors for the gods. That explanation won’t be necessary to justify Cage’s magical powers in the movie because of his arcana, but it will likely still play into his overall role in the story. Mortal Kombat 2 has plenty of leeway to create a new version of the classic Johnny Cage character, but it looks like it will also be taking cues from the more recent games.