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First Look at ‘Mortal Kombat 2’: Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Kitana, Shao Kahn & More!

Published

1 year ago

March 18, 2025

The first official images from Mortal Kombat 2 have arrived, giving fans a glimpse of the sequel’s highly anticipated new characters. Directed by Simon McQuoid, the film follows up on the 2021 reboot and promises to lean even further into the action, brutality, and lore of the beloved video game franchise.

*Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, and Karl Urban as Johnny Cage*

One of the biggest reveals is Karl Urban (The Boys, Dredd) as Johnny Cage, the cocky Hollywood martial artist-turned-fighter. Speaking about his portrayal, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon told Entertainment Weekly:

“He’s kind of a washed-up Hollywood guy thrown into this magical, ultra-violent thing. We love Karl Urban in The Boys, and he’s such a great actor that we knew he’d bring something special to Johnny Cage.”

Alongside Urban, we now have our first look at Adeline Rudolph (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Kitana, showcasing her signature steel fans, and Martyn Ford (F9: The Fast Saga) as the fearsome Outworld ruler Shao Kahn. Other new cast members include:

Tati Gabrielle (You, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Jade
Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Quan Chi
Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as King Jerrod
Ana Thu Nguyen (Suka) as Queen Sindel

The sequel also brings back key characters from the 2021 film, including Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Sub-Zero, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.

Bigger, Bolder, Bloodier

Director Simon McQuoid is returning to helm the sequel, and he’s doubling down on what made the first film a success. He told Entertainment Weekly:

“What I realized was go bigger, go bolder, don’t hold back, and really feed off the history of Mortal Kombat more. Just let it rip, and that’s what we’ve done.”

One of the biggest criticisms of the 2021 film was the lack of an actual Mortal Kombat tournament—something this sequel is set to rectify. The story will center around the legendary tournament, where Earth’s champions must face off against the warriors of Outworld.

With its R-rating already confirmed for “strong bloody violence and gore,” Mortal Kombat 2 looks to embrace the franchise’s signature brutality in full force.

Release Date

Mortal Kombat 2 is set to hit theaters on October 24, 2025. With a mix of returning fan favorites and exciting new characters, the sequel is shaping up to be a must-watch for fans of the franchise.

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[Exclusive Clip] ‘From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle’

Published

20 hours ago

April 26, 2026

Ryan T. Cusick

Audiences are invited to explore one of Vermont’s most mysterious regions in From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle, arriving later this month on streaming platforms and DVD.

The documentary will debut on April 28, 2026, on platforms including Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play. DVD editions will be available exclusively through the Small Town Monsters online shop.

Directed by Seth Breedlove, the film continues the company’s exploration of folklore, cryptids, and unexplained phenomena. Breedlove’s previous work includes The Mothman of Point Pleasant, On the Trail of Bigfoot, American Werewolves, and more than two dozen feature-length productions. In total, Small Town Monsters has released more than thirty films, along with investigative programs, web series, books, podcasts, and exclusive membership content.

From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle was made possible through the support of backers from the company’s 2025 Kickstarter campaign.

Set in rural Vermont, the documentary examines the legend of the Bennington Triangle, an area associated with reports of UFOs, ghosts, phantom lights, mysterious creatures, and a series of unexplained disappearances. At the center of the mystery is Glastenbury Mountain, where decades of unanswered questions continue to inspire speculation.

Going beyond folklore and campfire tales, the film asks a chilling question: Why is Glastenbury Mountain so inexplicable, and what happened to those who went missing?

Check out our exclusive clip below.

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This Week in Horror: DC Goes Full Body Horror, A24 Has Its Chainsaw Man, and The Bone Temple Is Finally Yours

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2026

Luna Gray

Good week. The Clayface trailer dropped and made DC relevant to this website for the first time in a while, A24 put a director on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reimagining, and we got some interviews worth reading. Here is all of it.

Clayface Has a Trailer, and It Is Exactly What You Want

The Clayface trailer landed Wednesday, and it is DC’s first real horror film. Not horror adjacent. Not dark. Horror. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, an actor whose face gets disfigured by a gangster. He turns to a scientist, played by Naomi Ackie, who transforms his body into clay. Then the body horror starts.

James Watkins directed, which is the right choice. He made Speak No Evil and before that The Woman in Black, and he understands how to make dread feel physical. The screenplay is by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. That combination should tell you everything about the tone they are going for.

A24 Has a Director for Texas Chainsaw Massacre and His Last Film Cost Under a Million Dollars

Deadline confirmed that Curry Barker is writing and directing A24’s reimagining of the 1974 original. Barker made Obsession for under a million dollars. Focus Features paid north of fifteen million to distribute it. It sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. A24 hired him before it even opens, which opens May 15.

Kim Henkel, who co-created the original with Tobe Hooper, is executive producing his own creation’s reimagining. That is either a blessing or a haunting. Probably both.

Astrolatry Is Going to Cannes and We Talked to the Actor Who Faced the Creature

Astrolatry is heading to the Frontières Buyers Showcase on May 16-17. The film has a sentient severed penis that grows into a ten-foot practical creature with spiky teeth. We interviewed star Ethan Daniel Corbett about what it was actually like to act against it. Short answer: genuinely terrifying. Long answer is on the site.

The Bone Temple Is Home

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hit 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on Tuesday. If you held out from the digital release in February, now is the time. The 4K presentation is supposed to be great. Extras include audio commentary and a deleted scene. If your gonna watch The Bone Temple, why not watch it where the snacks are better.

News

Astrolatry Built a Ten-Foot Practical Penis Scorpion

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2026

Luna Gray

A sentient severed penis grows into a ten-foot creature with spiky teeth. Genre cinema is doing fine.

Astrolatry follows Elliot, played by Ethan Daniel Corbett, who is every ingredient for quiet catastrophe assembled in one man. Socially isolated. Physically isolated. Craving dopamine and finding it in the wrong places. The romance guru pipeline, followed to its logical conclusion. Elliot does not just spiral. He loses a piece of himself, literally, and that piece does not cooperate.

Corbett described it as “a horror satire, a trippy mind-fuck roller coaster” and “a modern retelling of Maniac,” both of which are accurate and neither of which adequately prepares you. Director David Gordon is making his feature debut after shooting 14 films as a cinematographer and he is swinging for the fences.

The Creature

The effects company behind the creature has festival circuit work Corbett had already seen before signing on. He knew what they could do but he was not ready. “When I saw it in person it was kind of mind-blowing,” he said. “Everything that you see in this movie is practical. Very, very little else. It was genuinely terrifying to have a ten-foot creature coming at you with a big mouth and spiky teeth.”

A CG creature asks an actor to imagine something. A ten-foot physical creature on a set asks nothing. It just arrives. The fear on Corbett’s face in those scenes is not a performance. It is the normal reaction to a scorpion dick with sharp teeth.

Elliot

Corbett went into the character through the body. “I mainly focus on the physicality of it. Who this character is and who he is wholly. I strive in those kinds of moments as an actor.”

Gordon was explicit about the concept, the “nice guy” archetype and the overtly toxic one are the same problem, both aimed at the same object. That reading lands because Corbett does not play it as a reading. Elliot is not a symbol. He is a person.

Where It Is Going

Astrolatry is heading to the Frontières Buyers Showcase at Cannes on May 16-17. “To be able to get into that kind of room on David’s first feature is incredible,” Corbett said. “To be in front of buyers and to showcase the film and potentially get distribution through that.” Frontières is the correct room. It is full of people who understand that the most extreme premise, executed with precision, is not a punchline. It is an argument.