Mortal Kombat might be the world’s most popular fighting franchise, but when it comes to live-action TV and movie projects, the series seems cursed by the Elder Gods themselves. Every time fans think the franchise has nailed it, something goes wrong and projects get uppercutted straight into the Netherrealm, left to be forgotten forever. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Season 3, or as fans now call it, “the lost season”, is the perfect example. Although it had a strong following, it was suddenly cancelled in 2016. Now, all these years later, Casper Van Dien, who took over as Johnny Cage in Legacy’s second and third seasons, is reigniting the hype for the series and calling for Warner Bros. to release Season 3 of the series.
Posting on social media, the actor shared photos of himself as Cage with the caption, “Release Mortal Kombat Legacy season 3 @warnerbrosentertainment @mortalkombat @warnerbros @mortalkombatmovie YOU GOT CAGED.”
Fans immediately jumped in. One wrote, “AGREED brother!!! I’ve always wanted this so bad.” Another added, “Wait… I still watch Legacy! There’s a Season 3?! Like it was finished but never released?!” And that’s exactly the problem. It was finished. But no one ever saw it.
To understand exactly how this happened, you have to rewind back to 2010 when director Kevin Tancharoen created a gritty short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. It was meant as a pitch to Warner Bros. for a feature film, but instead, he got the green light for a web series. Mortal Kombat: Legacy launched on Machinima’s YouTube channel in April 2011 and blew up instantly. It was raw, stylish, and finally gave fans what they’d been waiting for.
Season 1’s success led to big news. Tancharoen was tapped to direct a Mortal Kombat movie while continuing the web series. Season 2 dropped in September 2013, and before it even premiered, the director was already teasing Season 3. Everything looked flawless until October that same year when Tancharoen suddenly announced on Twitter: “After 3 years of Kombat, I’ve decided to move on to other creative opportunities. I wish everyone involved in the movie big success. Thanks!”
Fans and cast members were left wondering if this meant the end of Legacy, too. Casper Van Dien even tweeted, “Am I being #CAGED? This cannot be true. Unless we are shooting #NinjaMime.”
By March 2014, Tancharoen was back, telling Nerd Reactor, “We are starting to talk about [Season 3] literally this week. I’m starting to talk to Warner Bros. and the video game creators, so hopefully we can see it through.” By early 2015, the season had a new name… Mortal Kombat: Generations. Van Dien confirmed filming was underway, promising a 2016 release. Then… silence.
Posts disappeared. Cast members went quiet. Tancharoen stopped responding to fan questions. Somewhere between filming and release, the project got finished and buried.
Many point fingers at Machinima, the digital platform that hosted the show. Once a YouTube juggernaut, it was acquired by Warner Bros. in 2016, then folded into AT&T’s Otter Media two years later. By 2019, Machinima had vanished entirely, setting all its videos to private. The rights eventually reverted to the creators, but Mortal Kombat: Legacy Season 3 was lost in all the movement.
Now, in 2025, Mortal Kombat II (starring Karl Urban as Johnny Cage) has been delayed from October 2025 to May 15, 2026. Fans aren’t thrilled, but Urban took it in stride: “Mortal Kombat II is now a summer movie… The MK2 cast will be at NY Comic Con Oct 9-12. If you’re a lil bummed at the delay (apologies)… but ya might want to be in that room… Just sayin.”
So, while we wait for Scorpion to yell “Get over here!” again on the big screen, Warner Bros. could easily throw fans a bone and finally release Mortal Kombat: Legacy Season 3. It’s already filmed, the fandom’s still begging for it, and it’d be the perfect warm-up before MK II. Just upload it to HBO Max or YouTube again. It seems a sin to keep Johnny Cage in a cage forever.
