As video game fans know, there are a lot of iconic moves in Mortal Kombat from some truly insane finishing movies (Sub-Zero, your spinal column rip, we’re looking at you) to some truly wild special movies, the physicality of the Mortal Kombat characters has long been a big deal. That especially includes Johnny Cage’s classic Nut Punch and it turns out that when it comes to seeing that move in action in the upcoming Mortal Kombat II, fans won’t be watching movie magic when they see it come to life.
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Speaking with ComicBook, Mortal Kombat II star Karl Urban revealed that he did, indeed, do the splits for Johnny Cage’s iconic special move and perhaps more than that, he wasn’t injured in the process.
“This is a lot of things going on here, pal, but I, I will say I was not injured. Almost injured. Yeah okay I did I did do the splits,” Urban said.
Johnny Cage’s Nut Punch Move Is Iconic (And Urban Doing the Splits For it Is Absolutely Wild)
As fans well know, Johnny Cage’s Nut Punch (also called the “Nut Cracker”) is a low-blow strike that sees Johnny drop into the splits before delivering the very sensitive punch. Given that doing the splits can be a challenge for almost anyone as it is a move that requires a great deal of flexibility and agility even outside of a Mortal Kombat context, the fact that Urban did the move himself is wildly impressive. However, the significance and challenge of the skill set needed to not only pull off the move but star in the film as well is something that was not lost on Urban.
“I think my biggest concern was the challenge,” Urban said. “You know, and this was, without a doubt, the most difficult physical challenge that I’ve ever encountered in making a movie. And I’ve made a few. But this, the skill set required, it was like. And starting from scratch, starting with just learning how to move, agility, doing speed drills, then, you know, learning movement and form and style. It’s just everything is so specific and it’s not like a brawl where you can just sort of, you know, sort of, you know, push your way through it.”
Johnny Cage Is Just the Start of Iconic Elements from the Mortal Kombat Franchise
While Urban is doing the splits as Johnny Cage and bringing that iconic move to life, it’s not the only thing that Mortal Kombat II is set to deliver for fans that they’ve wanted in live action. Previously released trailers for the film have shown the use of iconic catchphrases, characters, and even bloody fatalities, all taken seriously with apparent reverence for the source material. The result could very well be a film that perfectly encapsulates everything about the game franchise that people love in a big way when it hits theaters on May 8th.
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