NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat franchise has a wide assortment of fan favorite characters that fans have gotten to know and love over various installments. The recent 2021 reboot movie was largely filled with classics like Sonya Blade, Scorpion, and Liu Kang, along with some fresh blood like (Lewis Tan’s Cole Young) or straight up D-listers like Nitara and Reiko. That film’s sequel is currently building out its roster, and its newest addition is a sizable fan favorite.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mortal Kombat II is set to include Jade, who first showed up in Mortal Kombat II (the game) from 1993. She’ll be played by Tati Gabrielle (best known for You and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), who’s said to be in final talks for the role. In the timeline of the original games, Jade is an assassin of Outworld who was trained alongside Kitana, the stepdaughter of its ruler, Shao Kahn. But at time of writing, no one’s been officially set to play Kitana, who’s believed to be showing up in this movie after her evil twin Mileena popped up in the 2021 film played by Sisi Stringer.
Following NetherRealm’s 2011 reboot game, Jade was retooled as Kitana’s bodyguard who was assigned by Shao Kahn to kill her if Kitana ever defected. Both ended up getting killed during the reboot’s story mode, and Jade later popped up in 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11 as both her past and her present day undead Revenant selves. It’s currently unknown if she’ll pop up in the recently revealed Mortal Kombat 1, but Jade’s a character who also gets a good amount of play outside of the games; she showed up in the animated Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms movie from 2021 voiced by Emily O’Brien, and in 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, where she’s played by Irina Pantaeva.
A release date for Mortal Kombat II hasn’t been set. As of April, the movie is meant to begin production this June, but it’s unknown if that start date will still come around.
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