Jean-Claude Van Damme Is Kicking His Way Into The New Mortal Kombat Game
It took more than 20 years, but it's finally happening: Jean-Claude Van Damme is coming to "Mortal Kombat." This is not a drill! Warner Bros. Games released a new trailer for the upcoming "Mortal Kombat 1," the latest entry in the long-running fighting game series. It focuses on Van Damme, who will be portraying a version of fan-favorite Johnny Cage in the game with a special character skin. It's a fitting role for the star of such movies as "Bloodsport" and "Kickboxer," and they are letting the actor unleash his skills in an appropriately brutal fashion.
The trailer (which you can check out below) shows off Van Damme's version of Cage absolutely whipping ass in various fights. Those signature kicks are on full display, with extra bloody results. We even get to see him teaming up with Scorpion a few times for some wildly brutal, over-the-top finishing moves. It's Van Damme in his prime with the benefit of modern, next-gen console graphics. What a time to be alive.
A full circle moment for Mortal Kombat
As for the full circle nature of it all, Van Damme was instrumental in the creation of "Mortal Kombat" in the early days before the first groundbreaking game arrived in 1992. Co-creator Ed Boom recently appeared on "Hot Ones" to explain that "Our original intention was to make Van Damme: The Arcade Game." That didn't pan out. But two decades later, they got Van Damme on board for the latest installment.
"I don't know if he declined or never got to it, but again, this is a couple of 20-something-year-old kids who wanted to make a video game. I can see how Van Damme would go, 'No, we're not doing this.' We tried a number of times going back and forth with him. This time we hit the lottery and we got him. We actually have his voice, he's gonna be the Johnny Cage character. It's the absolute full-circle moment."
It feels like a role that Van Damme was born to play, as Johnny Cage is an action movie star with a martial arts background. Interestingly enough, the actor has now been a part of two of the biggest fighting game franchises out there, as he famously starred in the much-maligned but sometimes passionately defended 1994 "Street Fighter" movie.
The game itself is going to reboot for the series continuity. "Mortal Kombat 11" sort of blew up the timeline and the powers that be decided it was reboot time. In this latest game, players will "discover a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe created by Fire God Liu Kang." Because things are awesome sometimes, Jean-Claude Van Damme is a part of this new universe. If I may? F*** yeah.
"Mortal Kombat 1" arrives on September 19, 2023, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.