ComingSoon Senior Editor Spencer Legacy spoke with Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match star Joel McHale about the animated action movie. McHale spoke about playing Johnny Cage in various different movies and if he’d play Cage in a Mortal Kombat game. The movie is now available on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
“Action superstar Johnny Cage squares off against a sinister secret society that’s plotting a nefarious scheme,” reads the movie‘s synopsis. “However, the brutal fight against the bloodthirsty warriors of the Netherrealm is just the beginning.”
Spencer Legacy: You’ve voiced Johnny Cage a couple of times now How has your approach to playing him changed? Or did you figure him out the first time?
Joel McHale: The first time I did it, I was talking to the producers a lot, going like, “Should it sound like this or like this,” and, “Can I say this?” They were very encouraging. I had an idea in my head because he’s such a pompous Hollywood actor — which I am, too. [Laughs]. But I will say I have the ability to come off as an arrogant prick as a skill of mine. I steered way into that, more so than I probably ever have.
They let me improvise a bunch and make a bunch of jokes, and they used almost 4% of them, which was smart. But many of them were terribly unfunny. So with this one, it was like … you’re putting on an old shirt that you love. It was just way more recording sessions — because it’s 110 pages of me talking, as opposed to one of many characters. So it was really nice of them to call me to do it because I did a backflip when they said they were making it.
Did you have any idea when you first voiced Johnny that there might be a solo movie down the line?
I did not know until I was voicing the second one where they said, “We’re thinking about doing a Johnny Cage movie.” And I said, “Yes, please, yes, please, yes, please.” And then they said, “But you would not be the voice.” And I was like, “Perfect!” [Laughs]. Then all those other actors passed on that job, and I ended up getting it. No, I mean, it’s rare when you have a video game that has spanned time like this and continues to make games that are popular and incredibly playable. So my kids know the game, so for me to be Johnny Cage, they actually show enthusiasm for about 10 seconds. It’s really weird.
So is that what keeps you coming back to Cage? Or is it something about the character that really draws you back every time they call?
Oh, well, it’s not my kids. They’re appreciative, but if I was like, “I did this for you,” they’d make fun of me. But no, I like it because it’s really fun and, again, I got to improvise. I got to make all these ’80s references that I never thought I’d ever make. It was just really fun to make. They’re so nice in letting me screw around and see if I can come up with more jokes and, thank God, they used some of them. But yeah, this guy is so over the top. He loves looking at himself and he’s so pompous, so that’s really fun to steer into that world hard. He does have an actual conscience and heart when it come push comes to shove. He’s not just turning his back, so that was really fun.
You mentioned the ’80s — Johnny Cage is a character who was really made for that time period. So was it fun or different to bring that tone to the character this time around?
Oh, yeah, so fun. The artists are the ones that really made the shots look like paintings from the ’80s — the pastels and the Miami Vice sort of feeling. So there’s that part of it where they really made it look like the ’80s. Then you get Jennifer Grey — so ’80s star and I get to say that I was in a movie with her and, of course, the late great Gilbert Gottfried is in it. What a master. So I get to tell my grandkids I was in a movie with him. The ’80s — I mean, baggy jeans are back and all those styles and all that stuff has come roaring back. When you get on on the other side of some age, it’s not usually like, “That was the most beautiful time and we knew it.” I think that, like with the ’80s, people look back now and go like, “Oh, there was really beautiful art made and good shows and all that stuff.” So it’s great to pay tribute to it and make fun of it.
Johnny Cage has a huge personality. Did you play him any differently for a feature-length movie compared to as a supporting character? Did you tone anything down or up, or was it the same cadence?
It was pretty much the same except I talked a lot more. I didn’t change him. I mean, obviously, in the script, they have all these newer clues to his character and this is the origin story of him. So I learned a lot about him, but no, I didn’t change too much, I mean, I kept the voice about the same as I could, so yeah. I wasn’t like, “I’m just going to give him a slight German accent and see what happens.” [Laughs]. I didn’t do that, but yeah, maybe I will for the next one.
If Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon were to come knocking and ask you to play Johnny Cage in a game, would you be down for that?
In a New York minute.
They did a Jean-Claude Van Damme skin in the game, so hopefully we get a Joel McHale skin.
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