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The Boys S4 left Karl Urban restless, so he signed up for Mortal Kombat II
The Boys season 4 kept Butcher in a hospital bed, so Karl Urban had plenty of energy to burn when Mortal Kombat II needed a Johnny Cage
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You could forgive Karl Urban for not wanting to take on any big projects while prepping for the final season of The Boys. The Prime Video series typically delivers relentless action, and Urban’s Billy Butcher is usually the cause of most of the dust-ups. However, he managed to sneak in starring in Mortal Kombat II because The Boys Season 4 left him with plenty of “fuel in the tank”.
Fans of The Boys will remember that Karl Urban wasn’t nearly as active in Season 4 as he usually is. Instead of getting tossed around and beaten up by every super he comes across, Butcher was confined to a hospital bed for most of the season. That meant when filming wrapped, he was feeling restless and full of energy.
“I reached out to my agent and said, ‘Listen, I’m ready to go immediately. What do you got? I’d love to do something that was heavy on action. I’ve got fuel in the tank,’” Karl Urban said in a recent interview.
Thankfully, Urban didn’t have to wait long. Johnny Cage had been teased at the end of 2021’s Mortal Kombat, and the producers were looking to start casting the iconic character. “There was literally an incoming call, and we’re like, ‘What? No way, but yes!’” explained Mortal Kombat II producer Todd Garner. “It was that serendipitous.”
The resulting casting means that we’re all about to kick off the summer of Karl Urban, with The Boys being one of the most popular shows on Prime Video and Mortal Kombat II delivering a roundhouse kick to open up the summer blockbuster season. And it all happened because Urban was a bit restless following a more relaxed filming schedule for The Boys Season 4.
Mortal Kombat II is in theaters now. The Boys is streaming on Prime Video.
They are brash, unforgiving, and a little rough around the edges... and they're the good guys! The heroes of Prime Video's The Boys, led by Karl Urban's Butcher, go up against the 'superheroes' that is the Seven, led by Anthony Starr's Homelander, leader of the Seven. With that show's five seasons plus spinoffs such as Gen V, Diabolical, and reportedly more, there's a lot to the Boys Franchise, and we're here to help... with:
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