WARNING! The following post contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat 2.
Mortal Kombat 2 is hitting theaters this weekend and is on track to make a hefty sum of money at the box office. The Simon McQuoid-directed sequel is finally giving fans what they hoped might feature in the first film: the Mortal Kombat tournament. But that’s not all, MK 2 features a plot that revolves around Shao Khan’s lust for power and Earthrealm’s Champions (Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Jax, Sonya Blade, Cole Young) and Raiden working to stop him.
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For those who might be curious how everything comes together in the end, Mortal Kombat 2 doesn’t put a ton of focus on the tournament but it does have some pretty gruesome deaths. Here are your breakdowns of the Mortal Kombat 2 ending and who dies in the movie.
How Does Mortal Kombat 2 End?
After a combination of a Mortal Kombat tournament storyline and trying to stop Shao Khan from becoming a god and ruling Earthrealm, Mortal Kombat 2 culminates in an epic showdown between Kitana and Shao Khan. Having previously been one of Outworld’s representatives, Kitana switches allegiances and becomes Earth’s lone remaining fighter. As you might expect, Kitana prevails and Shao Khan meets a gruesome end at the hands of Kitana’s deadly fans.
Kitana is only able to beat Shao Khan because Johnny Cage and Kano were successful in the Netherrealm, where they destroy the amulet that Noob Sabot/Bi-Han stole. Cage and Kano need all the help they can get, as Scorpion jumps in to topple his old nemesis and Jade switches sides to help them out as well.
With Shao Khan vanquished, Raiden’s energy that had been stolen and stored in the amulet are returned. The team is reunited but they have a new mission. As Mortal Kombat 2 concludes, the new group presumably heads to Netherrealm (or some other realm) with Quan Chi in toe with the goal of rescuing their friends.
There is no post-credits scene in Mortal Kombat 2.
Who Dies in Mortal Kombat 2?
With an adaptation like Mortal Kombat 2, you would expect that the stakes would be fairly high and that character deaths are par for the course. Indeed, the film doesn’t shy away from the gory deaths that the fighting game franchise is known for and plenty of characters don’t survive to make it to Mortal Kombat 3 (or maybe they will?). I will say that there aren’t as many deaths as you might expect from a movie like this, but who gets killed might surprise you.
While a few of the Mortal Kombat tournament skirmishes don’t result in a “Finish Him” moment, most of them do. The first film treated most of the villains as disposable but kept the main character's deaths to a minimum. Things are a little different for part 2.
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Arguably, the biggest death of Mortal Kombat 2 is Liu Kang, who had previously been set up as Earth’s mightiest champion. Unfortunately, Liu Kang (and the audience) eventually learn that is not the case and Kang falls at the hands of Shao Khan. But it’s seemingly not the end of Liu Kang - and potentially most of the major characters in Mortal Kombat 2 - as it seems like a sequel would explore trying to rescue the dead from their seemingly non-permanent fate.
The big surprise death is Cole Young, who was basically the main character of that first film. In MK 2 he’s sidelined almost immediately and only serves to illustrate that Shao Khan has achieve immortality thanks to the amulet. While Liu Kang’s death is treated like a “see you later,” I’m not so sure that Cole will get the same reprieve in Mortal Kombat 3.
Other Mortal Kombat 2 Character Deaths:
- Revenant Sindel loses her fight to Sonya but Shao Khan revives her, so she's not techincally dead but really isn't alive.
- Like Liu Kang, Jax is summarily dispatched by Shao Khan in the climactic fight sequence. I wouldn’t be surprised if his death is permanent.
- Bi Han/Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot dies again at the hands of Jade, Scorpion, Johnny Cage, and Kano.
- Kung Lao gets a gruesome hat buzz saw death after his fight with Liu Kang. But it sounds like Liu Kang intends to “rescue” him from that fate.
- Shao Khan gets a similar buzzsaw treatment, only with Kitana’s fans vertically slicing his skull into pieces.
What Will Mortal Kombat 3 Be About?
Say what you will about how Mortal Kombat 2 treats death as a non-permanent fate, there were some surprises in the film up until that ending. After the creators confirmed that Mortal Kombat 3 wouldn’t feature the MK tournament, there were some questions about where the sequel could go and now we have a better idea.
It seems like the story from here involves heading into Netherrealm to rescue some of the fallen Champions, and maybe teaming up with Scorpion yet again. Because it wouldn’t be a Mortal Kombat film without Scorpion, would it? I wouldn't be surprised if we see Liu Kang assume a god-like role in the third film and potentially face off with Shang Tsung. The iconic Mortal Kombat villain felt criminally underused in the movie, but there have to be bigger plans for him. We'll have to wait and see.
- Release Date
- May 8, 2026
- Runtime
- 116 Minutes
- Director
- Simon McQuoid
Cast
-
Karl UrbanJohnny Cage -
Adeline RudolphKitana -
Jessica McNameeSonya Blade -
Josh LawsonRevenant Kano
- Writers
- Jeremy Slater
- Producers
- E. Bennett Walsh, James Wan, Simon McQuoid, Toby Emmerich, Todd Garner
- Prequel(s)
- Mortal Kombat
- Franchise(s)
- Mortal Kombat
- Main Genre
- Action
- Characters By
- Ed Boon, John Tobias
- Studio(s)
- Atomic Monster Productions, Broken Road Productions, New Line Cinema
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Executive Producer(s)
- Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Jeremy Slater, Judson Scott, Lawrence Kasanoff, Michael Clear, Pete Chiappetta
