WWE superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin is so pumped to play Johnny Cage in the next Mortal Kombat movie, all that’s left is for him to actually get cast.
The 2021 movie adaptation of Mortal Kombat made a big splash in its opening week in the U.S. domestic box office, garnering $22.5 million. While the film portrayed a majority of the original 1992 game’s roster, one iconic character was sorely missing, the Hollywood actor-turned-Earthrealm-defender Johnny Cage. This is the same movie that had Reptile in it, by the way. Reptile! Anyway…
In an interview with wrestling journalist Ryan Satin during WrestleMania week for the candid behind-the-scenes podcast Out of Character, the smarmy WWE superstar dished on a myriad of topics, including working in-ring with YouTube influencer Logan Paul, getting a vasectomy, and most importantly, his desire to play Johnny Cage in the Mortal Kombat sequel.
“As soon as I saw that Mortal Kombat was out and there was no Johnny Cage yet, and my name was literally trending worldwide #1 … I was like, if they want that to happen, I need to basically make sure that I am prepared and ready,” The Miz said. “…If that opportunity presents itself, I will be ready and focused.”
Following the release of Mortal Kombat, fans took to Twitter jockeying for the “A-lister” as the ideal candidate to play his Cageness in the already-confirmed sequel film.
To prove he wasn’t shooting hot air about getting prepped, The Miz said he’s been working on his splits with his trainer from the 2018 WWE franchise film The Marine 6 to work on Cage’s signature kicks. The Miz also said he’s “almost there” when it comes to nailing Johnny Cage’s iconic splits. If he needs any assistance there, I’m sure he can call upon Taya Valkyrie, the wife of his former tag team partner, to help him get those splits down.
Alongside the fan campaigning last year, Ed Boon, the Mortal Kombat co-creator and infamous MK roster rumor mill-stirrer, appeared to agree that The Miz was making a compelling argument to play Cage.
Aside from having a punchable face—a compliment, given the heel work The Miz is renowned for—The Miz’s wrestling persona is basically Cage already. He’s basically Ryan Seacrest if he were a chickenshit bad guy. Basically, he talks a big game while hiding behind his beautiful wife Maryse, flaunts his Hollywood beginnings as a cast member of the MTV series The Real World, and has his own franchise of films in the Marine series, now that that hard-to-perceive guy John Cena is off playing Peacemaker.
Aside from popping off on occasion in the ring, The Miz is one of the best wrestlers on the microphone today, as you can see in his heated “half-shoot” promo on Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack. At this point, the only thing missing from The Miz’s real-life Johnny Cage checklist is a tattoo of his name across his navel. Otherwise, I think he’s ready. I mean, The Miz has already survived a zombie apocalypse, how bad can a tournament to decide the fate of humanity be?
I’m sure WWE CEO Vince McMahon will see the light and deem casting The Miz as Johnny Cage as “best for business.” That is, unless McMahon politics to put his sugar baby and up-and-coming superstar Austin Theory into the role first.
