The cast of Mortal Kombat 2 is set to expand significantly from the 2021 film with additions of Johnny Cage, Jade, Quan Chi, Sindel, and Kitana to name a few. Director Todd Garner hasn't been shy about teasing these new characters on social media, with one of the latest teasing at the sequel's take on one of the franchise's mainstay villains.

Garner posted several images to his X account over the past week from the set of Mortal Kombat 2 offering a first look at Jade and Kitana's fan-blades, among other things. One of the most notable posts, though, was of Shao Kahn's massive hammer, a weapon he is rarely seen without in the games and will now make the jump to film.

The longtime Mortal Kombat villain will be portrayed by actor and bodybuilder Martyn Ford, who has typically portrayed henchmen or “heavies” in his other film outings including Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle and F9: The Fast Saga.

Shao Kahn has been a central fixture of the Mortal Kombat series since he was teased in the original 1992 game as the villainous emperor of Outworld who sought to invade and takeover Earthrealm. He made his in-game debut in 1993's Mortal Kombat 2, serving as the game's final boss behind its penultimate boss character Kintaro. However, he wasn't playable until 1995's Mortal Kombat 3 where he was an unlockable character in the game's home console version.

The villain was previously portrayed on the big screen by Brian Thompson for 1997's Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Despite fan-enjoyment of the original 1995, the sequel was panned for what critics described as lackluster, unfinished special effects, cartoonish dialogue and performances, and inconsequential fight scenes.

Series creators Ed Boon and John Tobias have previously stated the 1997 film are personal worst moments of working on the over-20 year fighting game franchise.

Mortal Kombat 2 is in production and no release date has been announced.