Johnny Cage - in Other Media

In Other Media

Johnny Cage is one of the main characters in the Mortal Kombat comic book series, where his portrayal in the comics is faithful to the games. He appears during the entire Blood & Thunder series, in which his most serious moment is when he, under Raiden's advice, decides to not seek the power of the Tao Te Zhan, since he felt it would be like "faking" his way through his films. During the second issue of the Battlewave miniseries, he is seen resuming his acting career when Sonya, awaiting him in his dressing room, requests his assistance in an investigation into Goro's vicious attack on Jax. He initially refuses, but later reconsiders what's important and decides to follow Jax into Outworld. In the meantime, he assigns his massive bodyguard, Bo, to protect Liu Kang.

In the first Mortal Kombat film, Cage was played by Linden Ashby, whose portrayal was faithful to the games in keeping with the character's personality. Shang Tsung assumes the identity of Cage's sensei, Master Boyd, on the set of one of Cage's films in order to trick him into taking part in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Cage defeats both Scorpion and Goro, and, near the climax, is initially handpicked by Shang Tsung to fight him in final combat until Liu Kang intervenes and accepts the challenge.

Cage briefly appeared in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and was played by Chris Conrad. In the opening scene, Shao Kahn takes Sonya hostage following a fight with Raiden. Cage attempts to save her with his Shadow Kick, but his attack is quickly snuffed out by Kahn, who then threatens to take Cage's life unless Raiden frees Kahn's generals, whom he had captured moments earlier in a standoff with Kahn. Raiden obliges, and Kahn capitalizes on his ruse by killing Cage on the spot.

Matt Mullins played Cage in Kevin Tancharoen's 2011 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth as a faltering action star. To allow his talents to still be used, he became an undercover agent for Jackson Briggs. However, Alan Zane (Baraka) kills him in battle. Mullins reprised his role as Cage in the third episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy (which also featured brief appearances by The Electric Playground host Victor Lucas and Ed Boon), with the character revised as a flailing TV star whose career was on the downturn after Power Rangers, in which he had starred, went off the air. Cage unsuccessfully pitches a pair of reality show pilots, in which he was filmed engaging in acts of vigilantism by beating up various criminals, to two television executives. After they subsequently refuse to extend his development deal and he later overhears one of the executives backstage offering a new show to another actor by way of stealing Cage's ideas, Cage pummels the executive along with several security guards who had rushed to the man's aid. Cage is then approached by Shang Tsung with an offer to provide "a way out of everything."