Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion Actor Confirms He’s Back for the Sequel

Mortal Kombat 2 will feature the iconic character Scorpion once more, and the actor who gave life to the the fighter, Hiroyuki Sanada, will return for the sequel to play Scorpion again. Sanada confirmed as much recently during a press event for Shōgun, the FX and Hulu TV show releasing this month which also stars Sanada. Mortal Kombat 2 does not yet have an official release date despite it wrapping up filming not long ago, so it hasn’t been said yet when, exactly, we’ll see Sanada and others return for the sequel, though we know of several other characters beyond Scorpion who’ll be in Mortal Kombat 2.

During the visit to talk about Shōgun and Sanada’s role as Yoshii Toranaga ahead of its February 27th release, ComicBook.com squeezed in one Mortal Kombat 2 question when speaking to Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis who plays John Blackthorne in Shōgun. When asked whether he’d be back in Mortal Kombat 2 and whether we’d see him punch Karl Urban in the face now that the actor from The Boys has long been confirmed for the role of Johnny Cage, Sanada couldn’t speak to any altercations between Scorpion and Johnny Cage, but he did confirm that he’s back for Mortal Kombat 2.

“I have no idea what to say,” Sanada laughed. “Yeah, I’ve just finished shooting in Australia.”

Scorpion Returns in Mortal Kombat 2

Sanada’s comments come as welcome news for any who might’ve been worried about seeing less (or none) of Scorpion as well as those who wondered whether he’d return to the role or not, but they’re not wholly surprising either. With the say that 2021’s Mortal Kombat movie ended, Scorpion’s story was very much left open-ended so that the character would have room to return in Mortal Kombat 2. After finishing his mission and offering some parting wishes towards Mortal Kombat newcomer Cole Young, Scorpion disappeared in flames to presumably return to the Netherrealm.

Of course, it also seemed likely that we’d see Scorpion return in Mortal Kombat 2 even without confirmation or teasers like the one above from producer Todd Garner to go off of given how iconic he is in the Mortal Kombat roster. He and Sub-Zero are basically the poster fighters for the series, so seeing his return is unsurprising even if it’s reassuring to hear definitive comments from Sanada confirming his return, too. SubZero’s return may be a bit trickier since the character played by Joe Taslim reached a more decisive end at the conclusion of Mortal Kombat, but as Mortal Kombat fans have seen from past games and movies, Sub-Zero is one character who can easily be worked back into a story.

Mortal Kombat 2 does not yet have a release date, but the first two episodes of FX and Hulu’s Shōgun starring Sanada will be out on February 27th.