Last year, Warner Bros. delayed Mortal Kombat II. It was supposed to arrive October 2025, but was moved to May 2026. That delay felt like a long time for fans. It felt like forever. But, thankfully, the new trailer almost makes up for it. The exciting new footage finally leans into what fans wanted in the first film that released back in 2021: the actual freakin’ MK tournament. And judging by the new clips, we can expect bigger fights, meaner fatalities and a much bigger cast. Heck, it looks much better across the board (visuals, directing, story, fighting, everything!). There’s only one thing missing here: Lewis Tan’s Cole Young.
Scroll slowly through the trailer and you won’t spot the character at all. That’s incredibly strange considering how central he actually was in 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Remember the outrage when Tan wasn’t playing Johnny Cage or Scorpion, but a brand-new character that never appeared in any of the games before? “Who the F is Cole Young?” became the unofficial tagline for the film. And, of course, MK fans feared the worst.
I mean, technically, Cole worked in the first film. He was a washed-up MMA fighter, who sort of grounded the film by being one of the few people who doesn’t start out with supernatural abilities and powers. He was our way into the world. We were learning as he was learning. Through Cole, we discovered the dragon mark, the prophecy, and the characters who decide Earthrealm’s fate. If you were new to the lore of Mortal Kombat, Cole was there to introduce you to it. Also, his link to Hanzo Hasashi made him seem important. When Scorpion told him to protect the Hasashi name, it felt like he was passing on the legacy.
But in Mortal Kombat II, he’s missing in action.
Yes, Tan is definitely confirmed to return. But the trailers don’t hide characters or leads unless there’s actually a reason. Did Shao Kahn take him out early? Does he die to raise the stakes? Or is the studio saving a reveal? Marvel does that all the time, right? Remember what they did with the Captain America: Civil War trailers?
In a franchise where death rarely lasts (I mean, how many times have characters resurrected in the games?), anything’s possible, of course. Still, when a franchise sidelines the previous film’s protagonist and hands the spotlight to Johnny Cage, you can’t ignore it. If Cole Young survives this film, it will be a huge surprise. If he doesn’t, Mortal Kombat II just revealed its first brutal death before the tournament even begins.
Director Simon McQuoid said at New York Comic-Con that the sequel aims to be a “full feature-length version” of the 2021 opening Scorpion and Sub-Zero fight. Franchise boss Ed Boon doubled down: “Double that intensity; I challenge you not to cry when you watch it.”
That’s a bold promise. But the new Mortal Kombat II trailer definitely backs it up.
Karl Urban steps in as Johnny Cage, now the main attraction. He’s a faded Hollywood actor dragged into Mortal Kombat by Raiden and Sonya Blade. On the hero side you’ve got Jax, Kitana, and Lui Kang. On the villain’s side, we have Shao Kahn, Baraka, Sindel, and Quan Chi. Sub-Zero returns in his wraith form as Noob Saibot. Scorpion’s still swinging chains. But those characters can fall to either side, the good or the bad.
So long, Cole Young. Too bad you didn’t actually get to “finish him!”
Watch the new trailer for Mortal Kombat II below.
