The iconic character wasn’t seen in the trailer, and would probably not be in the movie either. Here’s why.
The first trailer of Mortal Kombat is getting a lot of attention, but a major character was missing – Johnny Cage. The reboot is directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, and features many of the iconic characters from the popular arcade game, such as Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Kano (Josh Lawson), Kung Lao (Max Huang) and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), making fans believe that the movie will be a faithful adaptation of the games.
Why Johnny isn’t in the movie
Johnny Cage’s character and design was inspired by martial arts movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme, but instead of making Van Damme himself star in the 1995 movie, the character was played by Linden Ashby, and was one of the main protagonists. Fans were expecting Cage’s return when the movie was announced in early 2020 but from the early looks and now trailer, it seems he won’t be appearing. However, the overall reception of the trailer was positive.
A reason why Johnny wasn’t showed was because the lead protagonist will be Cole Young, a brand new character played by Lewis Tan. He will be filling the outsider role that Cage filled in the previous movie, and he brings the others together. The game has many beloved characters, but it will be hard to fit them all in a movie.
Other subplots
While Johnny was indeed a beloved character, he’s usually been a comic relief and not even the games have put primary focus on him. Instead they have put more focus in the rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Other characters have been put in pairs too, like Liu Kang and Kung Lao, Jax and Sonya and so forth.
But there can be a chance of him making a final appearance, or in a possible sequel.
You may also like: The new Justice League trailer