Karl Urban defies age barriers by channelling the uncaged fury of Johnny Cage in a new Mortal Kombat 2 teaser

Recently, a new teaser for Mortal Kombat 2 has been circulating online, featuring Karl Urban as Johnny Cage. The trailer titled See Johnny Cage in Uncaged Fury was uploaded on the YouTube channel of Warner Bros. on July 16, 2025.

The dark, action-packed trailer parodies the action movie genre with slow-motion kicks, warehouse fight scenes, and one-liners such as "They messed with his shades." This trailer created a huge buzz among netizens, not just for the Mortal Kombat sequel but also for Karl Urban.

At 53, Karl Urban's intense physicality and charisma depicted in the trailer have reignited conversations around Johnny Cage and whether the actor can do justice to the iconic video game character in the upcoming movie adaptation.

Although Uncaged Fury is not an actual film, but an in-universe movie starring Johnny Cage, it serves as a masterful work of advertising for Mortal Kombat 2, which hits the big screen on October 24, 2025. Johnny Cage is the star of this sequel, and the trailer successfully gets across his spirit—a dash of Hollywood celebrity, a dash of extreme martial arts skills, and a whole lot of danger—to the audience.

Karl Urban's casting as Johnny Cage had left fans wondering if it were possible for someone in their 50s to play a character traditionally cast with younger stars. The newly released Uncaged Fury trailer, however, assuages such fears.

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Karl Urban nails the unchained anger of relentless Johnny Cage

In the Mortal Kombat games, Johnny Cage is a wise-cracking, athletic film star who can talk trash and then put up a fight. Karl Urban, who has starred in several action-packed projects like The Boys, Dredd, and The Lord of the Rings, has an exemplary track record demonstrating that he possesses the charisma and skills required for the role.

Urban, who is aged 53, can be expected to bring something different to the role of Johnny Cage, who will perhaps be less of a young hotshot, and more of an experienced showman, still going strong. The Uncaged Fury trailer positions Cage as an underestimated man who is still deadly, as he dodges missiles and takes down foes with swift efficiency.

Urban's Cage maintains the unhinged, self-awareness tone that fans like about the character while also adding an undertone of experience and grime. Rather than attempting to cast a younger Cage, Mortal Kombat 2 embraces the notion that he's older, hardened, and maybe nastier.

What makes the Uncaged Fury trailer stand out is how well it captures the go-big-or-go-home charm Johnny Cage brings to the Mortal Kombat franchise. Cage is the comic relief, the arrogant fighter, and the one who catches everybody off guard when he proves to be more than a pretty face.

This same attitude shines through the trailer as titles of Cage's movies like Hard to Cage and Cool Hand Cage are shown along with the slow-motion warehouse mayhem.

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What is Mortal Kombat 2 about?

Mortal Kombat 2, directed by Simon McQuoid and written by Jeremy Slater, is a direct sequel to the 2021 reboot of the video game franchise. It delves deeper into the mythology of the Mortal Kombat franchise and brings some fan favorite characters not featured in the first movie, including Cage, who is set to be front and center in this installment as one of Earthrealm's defenders.

The movie welcomes back cast members such as Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, and Lewis Tan as Cole Young. Adeline Rudolph joins as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, and Damon Herriman as the nefarious Quan Chi.

Urban's Cage is likewise set up as a prime highlight, both for gamers and non-gamers brought into the fold by the actor's fame. With production wrapped earlier this year, anticipation is mounting for a movie that promises to combine martial arts spectacle with fan-favorite storylines.

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Mortal Kombat 2 releases on October 24, 2025.