Karl City Says Johnny Cage Is the Most Bodily Demanding Position He is Ever Had

Karl Urban is not any stranger to tasks that require tons of stunts and stamina. However his newest film proved tougher than driving horses in Center-earth, ripping by way of Asgard as a Marvel villain, combating dystopian crime with a helmet completely clamped on his head, or battling superheroes who’re secretly supervillains. Apparently, Mortal Kombat II‘s Johnny Cage required the seasoned motion star to dig further deep.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, City revealed the stunning trials that got here with enjoying Cage—a fan-favorite character from the video games who’s himself an motion star, albeit of a cheesier, extra B-movie caliber.

“It was essentially the most difficult function that I’ve ever undertaken in my profession,” he stated. “It’s the martial arts. The shape and the fashion of martial arts is so particular, and the choreography, at instances, is so definitive in its motion, and there’s a precision of execution for it to look good. It was an enormous problem.”

He particularly sought out an action-forward function after filming The Boys‘ fourth season, which noticed his character, Billy Butcher, battling most cancers.

“I didn’t actually have a lot motion that season,” he instructed EW. “I had gasoline within the tank. I simply wasn’t satiated.”

And he didn’t simply bodily practice for the function; he additionally did some deep dives to deliver context to the character.

“As a part of my analysis, I went to karate tournaments and regarded on the youthful technology of martial artists coming by way of to see what it was like rising up in that setting, as I think about Johnny Cage had carried out when he was a child,” he instructed EW.

Mortal Kombat II additionally stars Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Lewis Tan (Cole Younger), and extra. It’s directed by Simon McQuoid, who made the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie, and hits theaters Might 8, 2026.

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