Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme can be seen and heard as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 1. The Belgian appears in the fighting game as an extra skin for the character.
Ed Boon, founder of NetherRealm Studios and founder of Mortal Kombat, announced this during last night’s Summer Game Fest presentation. It is Van Damme’s portrayal that, according to Boone, took decades to make.
“This is the moment the circle is complete,” Boone said onstage with presenter Jeff Keighley. “I don’t remember how many times we’ve asked him to join Mortal Kombat in the past 30 years, but we’ve really gotten close at least four or five times.” The creator of Mortal Kombat points to Van Damme’s role in the action movie Bloodsport as a source of inspiration for the character Johnny Cage.
“We finally have him on board now and he’s also doing the voice acting,” Boone added. “So we have his likeness, and you hear him as Johnny Cage. We are, of course, very happy about that.”
Ed Boon went on to say that fans of the series will be surprised by the story of Mortal Kombat 1. At the end of Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang, transformed into a fire god, creates a whole new world where familiar characters have little other backstories. For example, Sub-Zero and Scorpion are now brothers and other rivalries between certain characters will turn out differently this time around.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be released on September 19 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store). It is not yet known when the Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage will appear
