After not hearing much about the sequel for quite some time, Mortal Kombat 2 sure seems to be coming along in a hurry. It came to light a couple of weeks back that Karl Urban (Dredd, The Boys) is set to play fan-favorite Johnny Cage in the sequel, and that seemed to be the flake of snow that got this snowball rolling down the hill, barreling towards production. Now, yet another actor has joined the growing ensemble, bringing another classic character from the games to life: Kitana.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Adeline Rudolph will play Kitana in the follow-up to the 2021, R-rated video game adaptation. Simon McQuoid is returning to direct the sequel, which was written by Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Project, Death Note). Plot details are still largely being kept under wraps, but it’s expected that much of the original cast from the first film will be returning, including Lewis Tan’s Cole Young. Rudolph is an up-and-coming actress, known for her roles in Netflix’s Resident Evil series, as well as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
One interesting thing about the casting of Rudolph is that she will be reuniting with one of her Sabrina co-stars in the form of Tati Gabrielle, who was recently cast as Jade. It’s noteworthy because Kitana and Jade are heavily linked to one another in the lore of the games. The two also have a history with Shao Kahn, which could tell us a little something about the villain of the sequel. Though that’s pure speculation for the time being.
2021’s Mortal Kombat was released when theaters were struggling to get back on their feet during the pandemic. As a result, it did so-so business at the box office, finishing with $84 million worldwide. But it did gangbusters business on HBO Max, ranking as one of the most-streamed movies on the service to date. That’s what earned the green light for the sequel. The streaming service recently dropped “HBO” from the title and is just called Max now, but that’s another issue entirely.
Even though the film did most of its business on streaming, there’s almost no way the sequel skips theaters, as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been extremely vocal about seeing no value in direct-to-streaming movies. So those who want to see all the spine-crushing, bone-crunching and fatalities on the big screen will certainly have the opportunity to do so.
Mortal Kombat 2 currently remains without a release date. Stay tuned for further casting news as the announcements roll in.
