Mortal Kombat 2: Everything You Need To Know About Johnny Cage

While people point to Scorpion and Sub-Zero as the faces of "Mortal Kombat," let's not forget who's the real MVP of the franchise: Johnny Cage. The martial arts actor — who starred in fictional hits like "Dragon Fist," "Ninja Mime," "Ninja Priest," "Rebel Without a Cage," and "Uncaged Fury" — is one of the main protectors of Earthrealm, ensuring that Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Shinnok, and all those other cheaters in "Mortal Kombat" don't enslave the human race. For a tournament that's supposed to decide the fate of the world, there's a lot of shenanigans that take place on a regular basis!

While Cage has never needed the extra spotlight, since his star shines brighter than Liu Kang's fireball, he's received an additional boost in his pop culture standing thanks to "The Boys" actor Karl Urban playing him in "Mortal Kombat 2." In fact, Urban told Entertainment Weekly that it's his "most challenging role," and why shouldn't it be? Forget Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Van Damme — Urban portrays the real icon of action cinema, and only the very best will do for the flawless one.

Cage deserves his own in-depth profile, so that fans (and haters) can find out more about who he really is and what's about to follow. While he's no stranger to hearing, "Lights, camera, action," it's best to quote the great man himself and say, "Let's dance!"

To understand Johnny Cage, one needs to go back to the history of "Mortal Kombat." Noticing the success of 1991's "Street Fighter II," video game developer Midway wanted to compete in the fighting game market — and to do it with an edge. The pitch was to create a game centered around Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was one of the hottest action stars in the world at the time. Unfortunately, JCVD didn't flex his bicep at the idea, so it was a no-go on that front.

Midway still made a fighting game — sans Van Damme — but there's a long-standing belief that Cage is a pastiche of the actor. After all, he's a martial artist with a massive ego who has starred in films that wouldn't look out of place in the Cannon Group's film catalog. For all intents and purposes, Cage is JCVD.

According to martial artist and actor Daniel Pesina, who did the motion-capture for Cage and other characters in 1992's "Mortal Kombat," that's not entirely true. Instead, Cage was inspired by a Marvel Comics superhero. "People think Johnny Cage is based on Van Damme because that's what the game was supposed to be, but he was really modeled after Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist," Pesina told MEL Magazine. "Same thing with Jax, who is actually modeled after Power Man."

In the "Mortal Kombat" movies and games, one of Johnny Cage's most famous moves is to drop into the splits position and punch the opponent in their most tender assets. Not only is it guaranteed to inflict a world of pain and suffering, but it also rocks the enemy and sets them up for a devastating uppercut or roundhouse kick.

While Cage might not be directly influenced by Jean-Claude Van Damme, this attack definitely is. In 1988's "Bloodsport," Van Damme's Frank Dux completes this exact move, as he executes the splits and whacks his opponent's sensitive genitals. Fatality! 

As it turns out, the inclusion of this in "Mortal Kombat" was intended as a homage/parody of the actor, according to Daniel Pesina. "John [Tobias, 'Mortal Kombat' co-creator] was like, because Van Damme had said no, 'You want to poke a little bit of fun at Van Damme?'" Pesina told MEL Magazine. "And I was like, 'Uh, what do you got in mind?' He was like, 'You can do the splits, and we'll have him punch people in the nuts.' So I did that." 

It also might have taken decades for it to happen, but Jean-Claude Van Damme did finally join the "Mortal Kombat" franchise. He provided his voice and likeness to a skin of Cage in 2023's "Mortal Kombat 1" video game.

Much like writing a movie or novel, it's rare that the first draft of anything becomes the final product. Sometimes, it needs to go through several iterations before a decision is made. Case in point: Johnny Cage's name in "Mortal Kombat."

Taking to his X account, "Mortal Kombat" co-creator John Tobias explained the history of how Johnny Cage came to be. He reiterated the story of how the video game was meant to be attached to a real-life action star. Both Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme were approached, but only the latter showed a modicum of interest in the project. As the team was preparing to pitch the concept to JCVD's team, Tobias and Ed Boon worked on character sketches and descriptions, including one for Michael Grimm, who would be Liu Kang's sidekick in the game.

"Michael Grimm was meant to be a character played by JCVD," Tobias wrote. "But, we were also amenable to JCVD playing himself. So, his concept was written to be a Hollywood action star." After Van Damme's representative turned down the proposal, Tobias and the team continued working on what would eventually become "Mortal Kombat." However, Tobias admitted that he couldn't recall why they decided to change Michael Grimm to Johnny Cage. In addition to this, they only fleshed out Cage's backstory in the 1992 collector's edition comic.

While it's clear that Johnny Cage was the first character imagined for "Mortal Kombat," due to the desire to base him on a famous action star, one would think he would fall down the pecking order afterward. Especially since John Tobias confirmed he envisioned Cage as Liu Kang's sidekick, and not necessarily the main character.

There was something special about Cage, though, so no matter what happened during development, he seemingly refused to take a backseat — almost as if the character himself was pulling the strings and reminding everyone he's the star of the show. As Daniel Pesina revealed in a conversation with Arcade Attack, Cage jumped to the front of the line to be digitized. "Johnny Cage was the first personality we filmed," he said. "Basically John and I were in a room and we recorded every martial art move we could. Different punches, kicks, blocks, etc. for three days, eight hours a day."

In a separate interview with Phoenix New Times, Pesina — a real-life practicing martial artist — disclosed that he also played a major part in shaping the character's moves and attitude in the game. While the developers conceptualized the idea of a finishing move, it was Pesina who suggested that Cage end his opponent by uppercutting their head off. In many ways, Cage as know him wouldn't exist without Pesina's personality and martial arts skills.

Let's face it: Johnny Cage is a pretty cool name. But this isn't his real name; it's only what he uses professionally. And no, it isn't Jonathan Cage either. As revealed in a 1992 special collector's edition of the "Mortal Kombat" comic book, the actor's government name is actually John Carlton. That isn't the only interesting fact here, as it's also disclosed that his parents' names are Robert and Rose Carlton. He also has a sister named Rebecca, and he was born in Venice Beach, California. Cage also has an ex-wife named Cindy Ford, though there's no confirmation about when they were married, or for how long.

Another big revelation is that Cage is a 29-year-old, making him older than Liu Kang and Sonya Blade in this version of canon. This means his year of birth must either be 1962 or 1963, depending on if his birthday is before or after the issue was released. Consequently, this also confirms that his acting career would have likely exploded in the mid to late '80s, thus making him a natural rival for Jean-Claude Van Damme in that era. Maybe Cage still has some hard feelings for missing out on "Bloodsport" and "Cyborg." What are his thoughts on Lorenzo Lamas, though?

To fully appreciate "Mortal Kombat," it's important to suspend one's disbelief. This is the series where people lob fireballs at each other, transform into dragons, and even have the ability to turn their opponents into babies. Now, there are characters who have explanations for their supernatural abilities in the video game, but Johnny Cage has always been portrayed as a human, whose only real powers are martial arts and a smart mouth. Even so, that doesn't explain how he is able to hurl energy blasts and execute his patented shadow kick.

However, "Mortal Kombat X" attempts to fill in the blanks and give Cage a backstory that addresses how he has access to special abilities. In the game's storyline, the Elder God Shinnok fires a blast at Sonya Blade, which is set to kill her. Cage leaps in front of her, glowing green and absorbing the blast with some kind of forcefield. Nothing happens to him, and he defeats Shinnok in combat.

How was he able to do this? Well, Cage explains it in a cutscene, saying, "Raiden told me later that I'm descended from some Mediterranean war cult. 'Bred as warriors for the gods.' I've never been able to re-summon that green halo. Raiden thinks it was triggered when I saw a loved one about to die."

Anyone who has paid attention to "Mortal Kombat" over the years will know that there's always been a little sexual tension simmering between Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. In 1995's "Mortal Kombat" movie, Cage (Linden Ashby) flirts mercilessly with Blade (Bridgette Wilson), but she brushes him off as a nuisance and even threatens him. However, as the film progresses, she develops a soft spot for the brash actor. The ending of "Mortal Kombat" shows the pair together, smiling and looking cozy.

For those manifesting a relationship, they got their wish, as it was confirmed that Cage and Blade not only became a couple, but they also married during the time between 2011's "Mortal Kombat" (aka "Mortal Kombat 9") and 2015's "Mortal Kombat X." The cherry on the cake? They had a daughter, Cassandra "Cassie" Cage. Like her parents, Cassie goes on to become a formidable fighter and defender of Earthrealm, embodying all the best (and worst) qualities of Johnny and Sonya.

Unfortunately, Johnny and Sonya's marriage doesn't last, as Sonya's insistence on focusing on her career drives a wedge between the couple. They do reconcile after the events of "Mortal Kombat X," but it's short-lived as that universe's Sonya dies in "Mortal Kombat 11." Look, this franchise follows the same logic as a soap opera: people die, they come back, they die again, timelines are reset. Just go with it.

One of the most baffling decisions that 1997's "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" (a scorching-hot contender for the worst action movie ever made) makes is to kill off Johnny Cage (played by Chris Conrad) in the opening minutes of the film. It sets the tone for the proceeding nonsense to come, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the audience.

However, this is far from the first time that Cage has died in this universe. The character didn't appear in 1995's "Mortal Kombat 3" video game. The reason provided is that he's killed by Shao Kahn's goons during an attack. However, through the sheer magical lunacy of this series, he's able to not cross the rainbow bridge, backtracking and featuring in 1996's "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" and other games thereafter. Like Emperor Palpatine from "Star Wars," somehow, Johnny Cage returned.

Fast-forward a few more games, Cage dies and is resurrected in 2004's "Mortal Kombat: Deception," then he perishes once again in 2006's "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon." Also, in the 2008 crossover video game "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe," Cage is seemingly dead there, too. That's all undone, though, by 2011's "Mortal Kombat," which serves as a soft reboot of sorts. Don't bet against him dying in another game or movie at some point, since death means absolutely nothing in this series.

Onscreen, several performers have been responsible for portraying Johnny Cage in the live-action adaptations. "Teen Wolf" actor Linden Ashby holds a special place for being the first to do it in 1995's "Mortal Kombat," but there was also another famous face who raged as Cage in the "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" web series. Casper Van Dien of "Starship Troopers" fame plays the character in the second season of the show, replacing martial artist Matt Mullins who played the character in the first season as well as in the 2010 fan film "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth."

Van Dien brings a cockiness to the character, as he stands alongside Earthrealm's heroes to battle the forces of Outworld, who also have a dangerous Liu Kang (Brian Tee) in their corner. The second season of "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" is bursting with a lot of recognizable talent, such as Mark Dacascos and Harry Shum Jr., while Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa reprises his legendary role as Shang Tsung from the 1995 film.

A third season of "Mortal Kombat: Legacy" was shot, with Van Dien returning as Cage, but it's catching dust in Warner Bros.' vault. "I am always wondering what is going on with Warner Bros.," Van Dien told MovieWeb. "They argued. We shot six or seven more episodes and I'm in one of them with other people they shot. They liked four of the episodes. Mine was one that they liked. And then the other two, they weren't as happy with, so they didn't release the third season."

"Mortal Kombat" loves the animated world. While there was a family friendly cartoon in the form of "Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm" in the '90s, the franchise embraced its R-rated roots for a series of animated features in the 2020s. "Community" star Joel McHale voices Johnny Cage in these movies, and he received his chance to lead his own film in 2023's "Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match."

The movie serves as a prequel, as well as an origin story for the popular character, taking place in the electric '80s. Cage, dressed like a slick Don Johnson from "Miami Vice," searches for his missing co-star Jennifer Grey, who voices herself in this movie. What the actor stumbles upon, though, is something much greater than what he expected, featuring cults, gods, demons, and even the menacing Shinnok (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes). There's also a hilarious twist with Grey in the movie that needs to be experienced to be believed.

Taking inspiration from cheesy action movies of the era, "Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match" captures the pure essence of Johnny Cage. McHale excels in dropping one-liners and embodying the fish-out-of-water nature of Cage as he encounters a whole other world outside of his comfort zone. The poor guy just wants to be a movie star; he doesn't want to be fighting creatures from other realms. Yet, through all the vanity and comedic tendencies, there lies the heart of a hero. One who remains important to Earthrealm's survival, no matter which actor is wearing his cool shades.