The first look at Johnny Cage’s alternate skin that features the voice and likeness of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Mortal Kombat 1 has now been unveiled. Back in May when MK1 was first announced, developer NetherRealm Studios shared that the iconic martial artist would finally be appearing in a Mortal Kombat title as an additional costume for Johnny Cage. Although this reveal excited many, NetherRealm has since still not shown off the JCVD skin in any capacity. Now, only a week away from MK1’s initial launch, that has finally changed.
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Highlighted during a new episode of Hot Ones that featured Mortal Kombat 1 director Ed Boon, a brief snippet of footage of this Jean-Claude Van Damme skin in action was shown. The clip that featured Van Damme only showed his pre-fight taunt that takes place before the beginning of a match. No additional audio from the footage was shared, but Boon himself confirmed that Van Damme has lent his voice to this skin in addition to his likeness.
Mortal Kombat’s History With Jean-Claude Van Damme
For those that may be unaware, Boon and those at NetherRealm have been trying to get Van Damme to appear in a Mortal Kombat game dating all the way back to 1992. At the time, Van Damme spurned this offer, which eventually led to the creation of the character Johnny Cage, which is loosely based on the action star. For Van Damme to now appear in Mortal Kombat 1 is a big deal for Boon and other longtime developers on the series and provides a bit of closure for this whole situation.
“When we made the very first [Mortal Kombat], our original intention was to make ‘Van Damme: The Arcade Game’. We actually wanted to see the words ‘Van Damme’ there. Again, Bloodsport was big and [so was] Universal Soldier,” Boon said in the episode. “So we called his people and we’re like, ‘We want to make a game based on Van Damme.’ I don’t know if he declined or it just never got to him or something like that. But, again, this is a couple of 20-something-year-old kids who wanted to make a video game. I could see how Van Damme would go, ‘No, we’re not doing this.’ So we tried a number of times going back and forth with him. This time, we hit the lottery and we got him. We actually have his voice and he’s going to be the Johnny Cage character.”
As for Mortal Kombat 1 itself, the latest game in the fighting series is incredibly close to its launch date which is September 19. Upon its arrival, MK1 will be playable across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Conversely, those that choose to buy the Kollector’s or Premium Editions of Mortal Kombat 1 will gain access to the experience one week from today on September 14 when its early access phase begins.
