WWE Superstar The Miz Wants to Play Mortal Kombat’s Johnny Cage

WWE superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin is throwing his hat into the ring to play Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2, the upcoming sequel to the 2021 video game movie adaptation.

The former WWE Champion is so serious about the role that he’s already putting in the work to hopefully get cast as Johnny Cage in the next Mortal Kombat movie. Speaking on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast, per ComicBook.com, Miz admitted he began training to play the character shortly after people on social media started fan-casting him for the role.

“I have been working on my splits, I’ve been working on my kicks,” Miz declared. “As soon as I saw that Mortal Kombat was out and there was no Johnny Cage yet and my name was literally trending Worldwide No. 1, ‘We want Miz as Johnny Cage,’ I was like, ‘If they want that to happen, I need to basically make sure that I am prepared and ready that if that opportunity presents itself then I will be ready and focused.'”

Miz was keen to perfect the character’s left-handed and right-handed intro kicks “because Johnny can do both,” so he called up a trainer he previously worked with on Marine 6, the sixth and final installment of The Marine action movie series produced by WWE Studios. He added that he’s now “almost there” in being able to execute the splits, too.

In an interview with Looper last year, Miz explained that his desire to be cast as Johnny Cage spiralled from seeing his name frequently associated with the character on social media. He was endorsed by followers, peers, and even Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, which motivated him to try and give “the Mortal Kombat fans the Johnny Cage that they deserve.”

“I will do everything in my power to hopefully get that part if the opportunity presents itself,” he stated. “I have an immense work ethic and whatever it takes, I will be there to try and do it. And if I don’t get it, that’s okay too. But I hope the person that does get it will put in the same amount of work and dedication and give the fans exactly what they want because I know what I want out of Johnny Cage. I really do.”

Real name Jonathan Carlton, Johnny Cage is the stage name of the cheesy action movie star in the Mortal Kombat-verse, and one of the seven original characters from the O.G. game. He is set to appear in Mortal Kombat 2 alongside Sub-Zero, as actor Joe Taslim previously revealed that he’s signed on for four more films, should the series continue on.

Mortal Kombat 2 is in the works at New Line Cinema, with Moon Knight scribe Jeremy Slater attached to write the script. The sequel is primed to pick up from the last movie, which proved to be a pandemic era hit, opening at number one at the box office and ranking among HBO Max’s top films. IGN’s review called it a “fun time for fans of the game franchise.”

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.