Despite The Trailers, Johnny Cage Isn't The Main Character In Mortal Kombat II

This article contains major spoilers for "Mortal Kombat II," so beware.

Ever since "Mortal Kombat" began as a video game franchise back in 1992, it's been an ensemble effort. In the original game, a team of warriors including the likes of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, and more from Earthrealm are recruited to fight in the titular tournament in order to stop a violent takeover by Outworld, which brings their own team of fighters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Kano. Since then, the story has expanded even further into Outworld, including the fiery depths of Netherrealm (or Hell), and expanded the roster to dozens of fighters. The mythology is deep, rich, and confusing for the uninitiated, which is why the "Mortal Kombat" movies have typically kept things simple.

In the most recent big screen effort to turn "Mortal Kombat" into a viable film franchise, the story focused on mixed martial artist Cole Young (Lewis Tan) as he seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. However, that first movie never actually properly got into the tournament at the center of the video game franchise, even if it still offered plenty of combat sequences. Thankfully, "Mortal Kombat II" wastes no time getting into the actual tournament, but fans might be surprised to discover who the story truly focuses on.

While the "Mortal Kombat II" trailers mostly spotlighted Karl Urban's debut as fan favorite fighter Johnny Cage, suddenly pulled into the fantastical tournament that he doesn't even believe in, the washed up Hollywood star and former martial artist champion is actually only the secondary lead. Instead, the true main character of "Mortal Kombat II" is Kitana.

"Mortal Kombat II" wastes no time establishing Kitana as the main character of the movie with an opening flashback sequence in the kingdom of Edenia. Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) challenges King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam) to a battle to determine the fate of Edenia. Since Shao Kahn wins the fight, Outworld takes over the kingdom, and the emperor takes on Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) and a young Kitana as his own. 

Years later, the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament is approaching. If Earthrealm loses, it'll fall under the rule of Outworld. An adult Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) still resides in Edenia, and though she acts loyal to Shao Kahn, she's secretly working with Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), feeding him valuable information about Outworld's efforts to defeat Earthrealm in the next tournament. Kitana even spares Johnny Cage in one of the first battles of Mortal Kombat, opting to defeat him but not kill him, despite Shao Kahn's orders. But the warriors of Earthrealm will need more than a spy to win this tournament, because sorcerer and necromancer Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) has some tricks up his sleeve.

Not only has Quan Chi resurrected deceased Earthrealm warrior Kung Lao as a fighter for Outworld, but he's also brought back Kano (Josh Lawson), who is in possession of an amulet that gives its holder immortality. When Shao Kahn takes hold of the amulet, he becomes unstoppable in Mortal Kombat, seemingly making Earth's chances of winning impossible. 

While Kitana tries to keep her betrayal of Shao Kahn and Outworld a secret, the emperor's loyal warrior Jade (Tati Gabrielle), who trained Kitana for battle, discovers this treachery, resulting in Kitana's imprisonment in Edenia's town square for all to see. Meanwhile, Johnny Cage and Kano, the latter fed up with Outworld, are sent by Raiden into the Netherrealm to retrieve the amulet, which is being held safely by another resurrected warrior: Bi-Han, or Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), who has returned as the shadow warrior known as Noob Saibot. 

This is where Johnny Cage's secondary lead role and Kitana's primary protagonist ultimately come together to end the story.

While Johnny Cage has been quipping his way through "Mortal Kombat II," not to mention defeating the Takartan warrior Baraka and making his entire clan a believer in the might and wisdom of "Johnny Motherf**king Cage," he's yet to tap into the power that will make him a proper warrior of Earthrealm. It's not until Cage teams up with Kano and the spirit of Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) to defeat Noob Saibot in the Netherrealm that he realizes his true potential as a fighter and completes a satisfying character arc by believing in himself and executing his signature shadow kick to retrieve the amulet. With the added help of Jade, after realizing the error of her ways, the fighters manage to destroy the amulet, just in time for Kitana to switch sides and fight Shao Kahn on behalf of Earthrealm.

In a final battle in front of the people of Edenia, Kitana fights the now mortal Shao Kahn. Though the emperor is strong and swings a hefty hammer, Kitana uses her unique fighting skills to execute a signature move, using her bladed fans to slice and dice Shao Kahn's head into several pieces. Yeah, it's a fatality.

Having defeated Shao Kahn in the same town square where her father was killed at the hands of the emperor years before, Kitana has honored her late father, and she is now queen of Edenia, which is no longer under the rule of Outworld. In her new role, she now takes a cue from Shao Kahn to use Quan Chi's necromancer powers to help Earthrealm. Joined by Johnny, Sonya, Raiden, Jade, Kano and Baraka, the team prepares to find their recently deceased friends and bring them back from the dead.

Johnny Cage may have been at the center of the marketing push for "Mortal Kombat II," presumably because "The Boys" star Karl Urban would help get more audiences into theaters, but the sequel's story mostly belongs to Kitana. Will it be enough to warrant a "Mortal Kombat III" getting greenlit? Only time will tell.

"Mortal Kombat II" is playing in theaters everywhere now.