An action director who's already seen Mortal Kombat 2 is pushing back against some of the movie's casting controversy, and says fans should wait to watch the sequel before forming an opinion.
There's been some online backlash against Tati Gabrielle's casting as Jade, an assassin who's a lifelong friend of Princess Kitana – namely, that Gabrielle looks different to Jade's appearance in the games.
"She is a beautiful woman and did a good job in the film (along with the other bad ass female characters) people doth protest too much without having seen things," filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto wrote on Twitter in defence of the actor, who most recently played Nora in The Last of Us season 2.
Along with Gabrielle, Karl Urban and Adeline Rudolph are also joining the cast for round two, playing Johnny Cage and Kitana, respectively. "I think Mortal Kombat 2 is to Mortal Kombat what The Road Warrior is to Mad Max," Urban said in a recent interview.
"I think that everybody across the board has leveled up in a significant way right across the entire production. And I think this representation of this world and these characters is the best we've seen. And I'm super excited for an audience to see it."
Tjahjanto's next movie is Nobody 2, the action sequel starring Bob Odenkirk and written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad. He's also directed Indonesian movies like May the Devil Take You and The Night Comes for Us.
Mortal Kombat 2 arrives in theaters on October 24. In the meantime, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the other biggest upcoming video game movies on the way.
