New Line Cinema’s Mortal Kombat reboot, while not perfect, seems to be a huge success. The movie has obviously set-up a sequel with a tease for the character Johnny Cage, and director Simon McQuoid talks a bit about where the next film could go—if it gets greenlit that is.
Talking to Variety, McQuoid was asked on where a sequel could go, and he replied:
“I guess I’d like to shift it to be a little more female. There are some fantastic female characters in “Mortal Kombat.” And I think we can bring balance there, to a better extent. There were no other specific characters we really wanted to put in.”
If there’s one prevalent criticism in the film, it’s that protagonist Cole Young (Lewis Tan) was not very interesting enough to carry the film. While the character is essential for exposition, it feels like the role could have been given to an already existing character.
For one, they could have probably reworked Johnny Cage as Cole. If they dropped the Scorpion connection, they could have had Johnny be a failing MMA fighter; he goes through the story that Cole did, and by the end, he goes off to Hollywood to be an action star. Heck, he could have even gotten the Cage name from his career of cage fighting.
Then again, Johnny is kind of infamous for being an asshole, so he’s probably more fun as a side character. At this point, they can probably refocus the entire story on Liu Kang because Ludi Lin just nailed the role. Either that, or the Mortal Kombat can find a way to make Cole more interesting.
No sequel has been announced, but you can check out Mortal Kombat now available in theaters and on HBO Max.
