Mortal Kombat 2 Has Found Its Shao Khan
Martyn Ford has been cast as Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat 2.
Mortal Kombat 2 is shaping up to be a big expansion of the 2021 film, and the actor that was just cast as Shao Khan seems like the perfect fit. Deadline announced that Martyn Ford is on board to play the evil Outworld emperor, and he should be an intimidating presence. Ford is a bodybuilder who is 6’8″ tall, so he certainly has the stature to play a villainous fighter like Khan.
Martyn Ford is best known for his roles in Boyka: Undisputed, The Sandman, F9: The Fast Saga, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and most recently, Bert Kreischer’s The Machine. Along with Ford, Deadline also announced that Desmond Chiam, Ana Thu Nguyen, and Damon Herriman have been added to the cast. Chiam will play Edenian King Jerrod, Nguyen will play Queen Sindel, and Herriman will play Netherrealm demon Quan Chi.
The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie was a surprise hit at the box office, despite contending with the downturn of box office sales due to COVID. The film, based on the video game franchise of the same name, managed to pull in $84M worldwide at the box office and become one of the most-watched films on Max (then known as HBO Max.) While that film has a simultaneous streaming and theatrical release, it’s likely that the sequel will first release exclusively to theaters.
Mortal Kombat 2 will see Simon McQuoid returning to direct with a script from Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight). James Wan and Michael Clear will produce under the Atomic Monster banner, with Broken Road Productions’ Todd Garner, McQuoid, and E. Bennett Walsh also on board to produce. Lewis Tan will return as Cole Young along with other returning cast members Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.
Along with the recently announced additions of Ford, Chiam, Nguyen, and Herriman, previously announced new additions to the cast include Karl Urban, Tati Gabrielle, and Adeline Rudolph. Urban will play Johnny Cage, Gabrielle plays Jade, and Rudolph plays Kitana. Previous reports have also indicated that Baraka would appear in Mortal Kombat 2, but casting for that role has yet to be announced.
Right now, Mortal Kombat 2 is filming in Queensland, Australia, and is due to wrap in September. While there’s no release date set for the feature yet, it seems likely we won’t see it until at least 2024 if filming is going to go into the fall. Plot details for the being kept close to the vest, but previous rumors indicate that the film will take place during the Mortal Kombat tournament.
As filming gets closer to wrapping, we should hear an official release date for Mortal Kombat 2 sooner than later. It seems like Warner Bros. Discovery is ready to go all-in on an MK universe if this film finds the same level of success. It’ll be interesting to see how well it does when COVID isn’t keeping people away from theaters.
