One month ago today, the forces of Outworld and Earthrealm engaged in a deadly tournament to determine the fate of both worlds in Mortal Kombat II. Now, Shao Kahn and his champions are about to invade homes everywhere. Simon McQuoid‘s bloodier and more brutal sequel to the 2021 film, based on NetherRealm Studios’ iconically gory series of fighting games, officially hits digital platforms tomorrow after testing its might at the box office to the tune of $126.8 million and wowing viewers with a new round of bone-crunching fatalities. Ahead of its arrival, Collider can exclusively share a new sneak peek that plunges into the fiery depths of the Netherrealm for a clash of blades between two of the most recognizable fighters from the series — Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), and Bi-Han, the former Sub-Zero now known as Noob Saibot (Joe Taslim)
In the footage, Scorpion, flanked by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) and Kano (Josh Lawson), draws his sword as the camera slowly turns to meet the shadowy ninja in front of them. After being roasted alive by Hanzo at the end of the first film, Bi-Han has returned from the fires of Hell himself, trading his original icy abilities for phantom powers that allow him to split his being into dark doppelgängers and even teleport around. That sinister moveset allows Noob’s clone to get the jump on Johnny and Kano and distract them, while Scorpion seeks to banish his old nemesis back to the shadows once and for all. The fast-paced clash of steel and fists between the fighters serves to demonstrate how Mortal Kombat II‘s action and effects were leveled up from its predecessor, showing off everyone’s moves from Noob’s shadows to Scorpion’s chain and Kano’s eye laser. Of course, to see who pulls off a flawless victory, you’ll have to watch the full movie.
Mortal Kombat II picks up in the aftermath of the previous film as the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament between Earthrealm and Outworld is about to begin. To help even the odds, Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) enlists the washed-up martial arts movie star Johnny to be the final combatant on Earth’s side to save them all from being brought under Shao Kahn’s (Martyn Ford) brutal rule. Although his best days of lighting up the silver screen with his flashy moves and sick shades are past him, every fighter, from the last film’s protagonist, Cole Young (Lewis Tan), to Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), has a purpose in the competition. For Johnny, it represents a chance to redeem himself as a true hero, while, on the opposite side, Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) seeks to free the people of Edenia from Shao Kahn’s grasp.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
01
You’re dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
‘Mortal Kombat II’ Brings Home a Stacked Roster of Special Features
For those willing to wait a bit longer to have the hit video game adaptation on their shelves, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD copies will be released on July 28 and will come packed with special features breaking down how McQuoid, writer Jeremy Slater, and the team brought more of the Mortal Kombat world to life. That includes a breakdown of the expanded roster of fighters, which featured plenty of familiar names, including those named above alongside Jessica McNamee, Damon Herriman, and Mehcad Brooks, but also no shortage of newcomers in fan-favorite roles like Urban, Rudolph, Ford, and Tati Gabrielle as Jade. These featurettes will also shine a light on the game-accurate recreations of iconic locales Edenia, Outworld, and the deadly Pit, the wardrobes and training required for each cast member to become their respective fighters and recreate the same moves employed by players, and a sit-down with franchise co-creator Ed Boon exploring the many pieces of the mythos, from the mainline games to comics and more, that informed Mortal Kombat II.
Mortal Kombat II arrives on digital on June 9. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.
