Adeline Rudolph Teases Kitana’s Role in Mortal Kombat II with Johnny Cage

Adeline Rudolph, who plays Kitana in the upcoming Mortal Kombat II movie, has revealed, “Kitana’s storyline feels very much interwoven into Johnny Cage’s story.“

Speaking to EW, Rudolph described the Mortal Kombat II script as an intertwining of two worlds: Earthrealm and Edenia/Outworld. Kitana’s storyline is closely interwoven with Johnny Cage’s, with their stories crossing throughout the movie.

Rudolph said, “Especially when I first read the script, it felt very much like the intertwining of two worlds. You have Earthrealm, and then you have Edenia and Outworld.” She added, “Kitana’s storyline feels very much interwoven into Johnny Cage’s story, and they go in and out of each other throughout the movie.”

Mortal Kombat II officially kicks off the titular tournament, featuring champions from different realms competing to the death. Lord Raiden recruits Johnny Cage, a washed-up actor, to fight for Earthrealm, setting him up against Kitana.

While auditioning for the role of Kitana, Rudolph feared she wasn’t giving enough effort. She described Kitana as an intricate character — regal and poised, yet vulnerable and empathetic — making the role both difficult and exciting to portray. The casting process was lengthy and overlapped with Rudolph shooting another project in Bulgaria. By the end of her final hour-long Zoom session with director Simon McQuoid, she received the call confirming she got the role. At the time, she was in Germany waiting for her green card interview but was told she had to fly to Australia immediately to begin stunt training.

Directed by Simon McQuoid from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, Mortal Kombat 2 is based on the video game franchise created by John Tobias and Ed Boon. Serving as the sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat‘ the film is also the fourth installment in the Mortal Kombat film series.

The film stars Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Rudolph as Kitana, Sophia Xu as young Kitana, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Briggs, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han / Noob Saibot, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion, Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn, Desmond Chiam as King Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen as Queen Sindel, Max Huang as Revenant Kung Lao, and CJ Bloomfield as Baraka.

Produced by James Wan, Michael Clear, Garner, Simon McQuoid, and E. Bennett Walsh, Mortal Kombat 2 is a production of New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and Broken Road Productions.

Mortal Kombat 2 will hit theaters and IMAX on May 15, 2026, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

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