On May 8, Mortal Kombat II debuted in theaters worldwide. While it performed well at the American box office–earning $40 million in its opening weekend–it only made $23 million internationally. So while it's not a smash hit. Is it enough for a threequel? We'll have to see if it has any staying power in the weeks to come, especially with The Mandalorian and Grogu debuting on May 22.
Is the movie worth checking out? It falls into the category of "so bad it's good." The plot is insane and incoherent, but that's sort of on-brand for the franchise. Mortal Kombat has always followed the Rule of Cool; if it looks and feels awesome, then the audience won't care about the logical leaps to make it possible. And this movie definitely has some cool, standout visuals, especially in its hand-to-hand fight sequences. Set your expectations at a reasonable level, and you'll get more than what you paid for.
Whether you played the arcade games in the early '90s or the more recent entries in the series (check out the Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection for a nostalgia hit, or Mortal Kombat 1 for the latest reboot), there's something in this movie for everyone. Here are the 23 most interesting Easter Eggs and references in Mortal Kombat II (2026), currently playing in theaters worldwide.
[Ed note: A strong Spoiler Alert warning from here on out.]
Opening credits
The opening credits for Mortal Kombat II (the movie) play over a dark background, with thunder and lightning. This is the same opening that Mortal Kombat II (the video game) has before the title reveal.
Shao Kahn destroys Edenia
The movie's opening follows the basic canon of the video games. Shao Kahn takes over the realm of Edenia and King Jerrod. He then marries Queen Sindel and adopts Kitana as his daughter.
Shoulder Ram
The movie is filled with references to specific characters' special moves. We see Shao Kahn use both his shoulder ram (Forward, Forward, Low Punch) and his hammer (Back, Forward, High Punch) from Mortal Kombat 3 during his fight against Jerrod.
Jade
Jade is a hidden character who debuted in the second game. You access her boss fight in Goro's Lair by fighting the character prior to the Question Mark block on the tournament ladder, and using only Low Kick (no blocking!) to win one round. In her boss fight, she uses golden fans and is essentially a palette swap of Kitana. She debuted as a playable character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, this time with her trademark staff.
The Amulet of Shinnok
The central plot device of this movie is the Amulet of Shinnok, a relic that a Fallen Elder God used to try and conquer all the realms. It has a long, complex history in the games and made its debut in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. It has been a key item in every subsequent Mortal Kombat game since, with numerous villains vying to possess its power.
Split Dodge
Johnny Cage’s classic split (hold Block, Down, and Low Punch) appears twice in the movie. First, when he dodges attacks in his film-within-a-film Uncaged Fury, and later when he fights Baraka in the Outworld Realm and punches his opponent in the groin.
Big Trouble in Little China
Johnny Cage makes fun of Raiden by pointing out his resemblance to Lightning from Big Trouble in Little China, but it's hardly a joke. Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias has confirmed that Raiden was a homage to the warrior from the 1986 John Carpenter classic.
Earthquake Punch
We see Jax training outside, and near the end of the sequence, he hits the ground with his fist. This is his Quake Punch, which you perform in Mortal Kombat II by holding Low Kick for three seconds and then letting go.
Quan Chi
A sorcerer from the Netherrealm, Quan Chi debuted in Mortal Kombat 4 and is one of the franchise's main villains. He's best known for teaming with Shang Tsung and killing Liu Kang before the events leading to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. One of his main powers is his ability to raise the dead, as he did with Kano.
Ed Boon!
Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon makes a cameo appearance as a bartender, during the scene where Johnny Cage is drinking alone after declining Raiden's offer.
Kitana vs. Johnny Cage
Kitana destroys Johnny Cage in their official match, but she resists Shao Kahn's edict to "Finish Him!", instead allowing him to collapse on the ground. This is the same thing that happens in the game if you do nothing after beating the opponent, or if you input the Fatality with the wrong combination.
Special moves in The Pit
The fight between Sonya and Sindel is the film's second-best; we'll discuss the film's best fight in a bit.
Both women use their signature moves from the games. Sindel has her high-powered shriek (Forward, Forward, Forward, High Punch). Sonya has her energy rings (Down, Forward, Low Punch) and her scissors takedown (Down + Low Punch + Block). They're fighting on a floor with spikes coming out of the ground, which is evocative of the classic Pit stage in the first game.
Shao Kahn Acid Bath
Shao Kahn kills Cole and, afterward, pushes his opponent's body into the Acid Pool surrounding them. The Dead Pool Fatality made its debut in the second game, and unlike every other finishing move in the game, it had the same button input for every character—Hold Low Kick and Low Punch + Uppercut.
Cole was a main character introduced in the first movie, which made him controversial among video game fans. He ended up having a cool backstory, though, and it's nice that he didn't die like a chump; he would have beaten Shao Kahn, fair and square, if the Outworld emperor hadn't used the amulet.
Kung Lao vs. Liu Kang
The best fight in the entire film, Kung Lao and Liu Kang, takes place in a dark blue version of the Portal stage from the second game. The Kung Lao actor, Max Huang, was a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and trained for eight months for his performance. Filming the fight itself took a week.
Noob Saibot
Sub-Zero, who died in the first movie, is resurrected by Quan Chi as undead ninja Noob Saibot. His name is a combination of the Mortal Kombat co-creators' last names, spelled backward (Ed Boon and John Tobias). You can unlock and fight him in the second game by winning 50 Versus matches in a row. He made his debut as a playable character in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
Tarkatan Village
We get a cool bit of worldbuilding when our heroes visit a Tarkatan village and fight Baraka. In the games, Tarkatans are a brutal, cannibalistic race of monsters who serve in Shao Kahn's army. We see that racism and classism exist in Outworld; the Tarkatans have to use an underground "service entrance" to get inside Shao Kahn's castle.
Regrowable bones
In the games, Baraka rubs his claws against each other to create a flying spark. In the movie, the filmmakers simplified it so that Baraka simply launches the claws out of his arms.
Chained Up
At the beginning of the final battle against Shao Kahn, Kitana is chained to the wall for betraying her stepfather. It's visually similar to the Kahn's Arena stage in the second game, where Kano and Sonya were chained up in the background.
An interesting bit of trivia: despite being part of the original game, Sonya and Kano were removed from the sequel to make room for new characters. The developers made their decision by polling the internal data on arcade machines. They discovered that Sonya and Kano were the two least selected players, so they were the ones who got the axe.
Scorpion
The heroes get Scorpion to fight for them in the Netherrealm, and he delivers the iconic "GET OVER HERE!" line after throwing his spear (Back, Back, Low Punch). He also performs his Skull Fire Fatality (Up, Up) to overcome and destroy Noob Saibot during the film's climax.
Kitana Fatality
Kitana performs a Fatality on Shao Kahn in which she uses her fan to cut his head into pieces, so that we can see the cross-section of his brain. This is a visual homage to her Fatalities in Mortal Kombat X, which both use the fans in a similar fashion.
Shadow Kick
Johnny Cage finally uses his trademark Shadow Kick at the end of the film to destroy the Amulet of Shinnok. You performed it in the original game by pressing Back, Towards, Low Kick.
Threequel?
The movie's final scene hints at a potential third film, in which the Earthrealm competitors would travel to the Netherrealm to save their fallen friends. So even though Jax and Cole died in this film, we may not have seen the last of them.
End credits theme
The music playing over the end credits is the theme of the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, performed by Belgian electronic musicians The Immortals. The song was a modest radio hit back in the '90s.
