Johnny Cage’s apparent absence from the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot film has got the character trending online. The official trailer for the new movie recently released, seeming to confirm that Cage would not be one of the characters included from the popular video games. The film features many other major players from the Mortal Kombat universe, including Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Sonya Blade. Mortal Kombat will be released on April 16.
Johnny Cage was one of the original fighters included in the very first Mortal Kombat arcade game, alongside other icons like Raiden, Kano, and the names listed above. He also served as the de facto protagonist of the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. The character was based on action film star Jean-Claude Van Damme, and similarly is a martial arts movie star who becomes one of the champions of Earthrealm at the Mortal Kombat tournament.
Johnny Cage’s absence is understandably confusing to some, especially since every other prominent character from the first video game is featured in the reboot. After the trailer dropped, fans took to Twitter and other corners of the internet to voice their sadness at Cage’s exclusion, causing the character to trend. “Johnny Cage is an essential Mortal Kombat character, so where tf is he in this movie?” one fan wrote. Professional wrestler The Miz even entered the conversation after several people fan-cast him as Cage, encouraging Warner Bros. to “Talk to [his] agent.” Numerous other fans took to Twitter as well to decry the trailer's lack of Johnny Cage.
In place of Cage (though not a direct substitution), the new Mortal Kombat will feature a new character named Cole Young (Lewis Tan) as the main protagonist. Tan is a prolific martial artist and has had prominent roles in shows like Wu Assassins and Into the Badlands. The introduction of a new character may help offer an outsider’s perspective to the story for newcomers, similar to the role Cage played in the 1995 version.
The Mortal Kombat trailer itself has received generally high praise, but some fans are still disappointed about losing one of the series’ mainstays. It’s possible that Johnny Cage could appear later in the film, as a cameo, or in some sort of post-credits sequence, but for now, it looks like fans may have to do without him. If the film does well enough critically and commercially, there’s always the chance he could feature in a sequel. Mortal Kombat is set to release on April 16, simultaneously in theaters and for streaming on HBO Max.
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