Karl Urban's Sons Reacted to the News He Had Been Cast as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2 With a Few Simple, but Direct, Words

The casting of Karl Urban arsenic Mortal Kombat instrumentality favourite Johnny Cage surely raised a fewer eyebrows among the warring game’s assemblage erstwhile it was announced. Urban didn’t consciousness similar an evident prime arsenic the washed up martial arts movie prima turned Earth’s past anticipation for survival. But arsenic we’ve seen much of Urban’s instrumentality connected the quality via photos and trailers, sentiment has turned around, to the constituent wherever now, conscionable a fewer days earlier Mortal Kombat 2 hits theaters, there’s a genuine consciousness of anticipation astir the Lord of the Rings star’s take.

Still, taking connected Johnny Cage means you’re taking connected the mightiness of the Mortal Kombat community, and with that comes an tremendous magnitude of pressure. It turns out, Urban felt that unit close from the off: from his ain 2 sons.

Speaking during a property league attended by IGN, Urban revealed the straightforward effect helium got from his household erstwhile helium told them the news.

“I decidedly felt the pressure,” helium said. “I retrieve erstwhile I got cast, I said to my 2 sons — who I really played the crippled with, which was my archetypal instauration to the satellite of Mortal Kombat — and I said, ‘Hey guys, I'm going to beryllium Johnny Cage.’ And they were like, ‘Oof… Big instrumentality base. Don't f**k it up.’

“So close from the get spell from my ain family, I was like, ‘Oh.’ I felt the pressure. But erstwhile you're successful that situation, each you tin bash is conscionable transmission each of your vigor distant from immoderate of those fears and anxieties and conscionable absorption it connected the work, absorption it connected your preparation. And for me, it was a heavy dive into the satellite of martial arts.”

To that end, Urban visited a karate tourney successful his homeland of New Zealand to ticker young kids and families bask the event, and, arsenic a result, “saw the culture.” Then, helium spent clip “learning however to move.”

“Like learning agility and doing velocity drills,” helium explained. “I mean, we were doing worldly that pro athletes were doing, those benignant of exercises.”

And finally, Urban looked astatine the satellite of Mortal Kombat itself, from the games to everything that’s canon astir Johnny Cage, to use to the quality arsenic helium appears successful the script.

“Jeremy [Slater, scriptwriter] did a fantastic occupation due to the fact that helium didn't constitute a quality that was fueled successful truthful overmuch ego,” Urban continued. “This is simply a precise dispirited character, which was a precise astute prime due to the fact that it gave not lone me, but the assemblage determination to spell with the character. It gave a journey.”

Urban talked astir the “huge challenge” of the combat scenes successful Mortal Kombat 2. “Coming into Mortal Kombat 2 was hands down the astir challenging, carnal undertaking that I've ever embarked connected erstwhile it comes to a production,” helium said. “The skillset required was decidedly an exponential learning curve that I person ne'er encountered. I'd beryllium lying to accidental that I didn't consciousness a small spot terrified. I mean, you're stepping into a movie with martial artists who are accomplished, similar Ludi [Lin, Liu Kang], and Max [Huang, Kung Lao], and Lewis [Tan, Cole Young], and Joe [Taslim, Bi-Han], and they are each truthful fantastic astatine what they do.

“But we didn't discarded a minute. I virtually retrieve landing successful Brisbane and getting driven consecutive to a stunt rehearsal session. Like, I inactive had the bags. And I was like, ‘Okay, present you go.’ So the reentry was real. But I deliberation each of america recognized the value to get it right.”

He continued: “... the exponential skillset that's required, similar erstwhile you bash stunt warring connected different projects, you tin benignant of beryllium a spot burly and you benignant of bullishly bulldoze your mode done it. You can't bash that successful martial arts. Everything is truthful circumstantial successful a ballet benignant of way, a beauteous convulsive choreography.”

Also successful the aforesaid property conference, Mehcad Brooks, the histrion who plays Jax successful the Mortal Kombat movies, revealed his conflict with the combat scenes for the archetypal movie — struggles helium overcame for the imminent sequel.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].