With Mortal Kombat II next on his slate, Singapore actor Chin Han is playing the long game
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Actor Chin Han says Mortal Kombat II will surprise fans who think they know how it ends.
PHOTOS: RUSSEL WONG, NEW LINE CINEMA
SINGAPORE – Singaporean actor Chin Han is keeping Mortal Kombat II’s secrets under wraps, but the team behind the 2026 sequel is going all out to fight plot leaks.
“We shot different endings to different fights,” the Los Angeles-based 56-year-old tells The Straits Times at The Lobby Lounge at the Shangri-La Singapore hotel on Nov 28.
The martial arts fantasy film will open in cinemas only in May 2026, but test screenings have already been held. Shooting multiple endings is one way to thwart those looking to spoil the film.
“I think whoever claims to know the movie, I’ll just say to wait and see it when it comes out in theatres. The fan base is huge. They’re looking for every morsel of news,” says Chin Han.
“Of course, the second movie is a bigger one – new weapons, new costumes, new characters, and bloodier.”
He is in town for the 2025 Singapore International Film Festival, where he serves as a jury member for the Asian Feature Film Competition category. He is also slated to appear in the festival’s In Conversation With series on Dec 4 at National Gallery Singapore, which will be moderated by local actress Tan Kheng Hua.
The first Mortal Kombat (2021) – based on the popular video game series (1992 to present) – proved a commercial success despite the Covid-19 pandemic, grossing US$84.4 million (S$109 million) worldwide. The strong box office led movie studio Warner Bros. to plan a follow-up, which was filmed in Queensland, Australia.
Chin Han as the villain Shang Tsung in a behind-the-scenes photo during the filming of Mortal Kombat (2021).
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHIN HAN
Returning actors include Lewis Tan (as mixed martial arts fighter Cole Young), Joe Taslim (as evil assassin Sub-Zero), Ludi Lin (as Shaolin monk Liu Kang), Max Huang (as Liu Kang’s ally Kung Lao) and Tadanobu Asano (as thunder god Lord Raiden).
Chin Han reprises his role as the villain Shang Tsung, a sorcerer with godlike powers seeking to defeat Earthrealm.
Chin Han surfing in Australia’s Gold Coast after filming Mortal Kombat II there.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHIN HAN
“I decided to remain at the filming location in the Gold Coast, and I started learning how to surf. I surfed for two months straight,” he recalls.
Because he and Japanese co-star Asano share a Nov 27 birthdate, they held a joint birthday celebration in 2023 at restaurant Miss Moneypenny’s in the Gold Coast, which drew cast members including New Zealand actor Karl Urban. Chin Han and Asano also shared celebrations in 2019 and 2020 while filming Mortal Kombat.
Meanwhile, Chin Han and Indonesian actor Taslim rode the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park roller coaster near the Warner Bros. studio. The ride terrified both men, who play tough guys in the Mortal Kombat franchise.
“It’s almost a 90-degree drop. It is insane. It’s one of the craziest rides I’ve been on,” Chin Han says. “We have a very funny souvenir picture of us on this roller coaster”, but the photo will never be shown, he adds with a smile.
(From left) Actors Max Huang, Tadanobu Asano, Chin Han and Ludi Lin at a restaurant during the filming of Mortal Kombat in 2019, celebrating the Nov 27 birthdays of Asano and Chin Han.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHIN HAN
Besides Mortal Kombat II, the performer’s other big Hollywood project in 2026 is the second season of Netflix’s action-adventure-fantasy series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024 to present), in which he plays Long Feng, the Grand Secretariat of the city of Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom.
Even though Canadian-Chinese actor Simu Liu, star of Marvel superhero movie Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021), posted on social media in late November that Asian representation in the Western entertainment industry “still sucks”, Chin Han points to improvements since 2007 – when he scored his Hollywood breakthrough with the second instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy (2005 to 2012).
“When I shot The Dark Knight (2008), the number of Asian actors in major blockbuster movies ostensibly were myself in The Dark Knight and John Cho in Star Trek (2009). Regardless of Liu’s disappointment, I still think we’re in a better place than we were in 2007,” Chin Han says.
The improvements stem from more Asian creators behind the camera on productions like Disney+’s fantasy-action-comedy series American Born Chinese (2023) – which he starred in – and the global appetite for South Korean content like Netflix series Squid Game (2021 to 2025) and the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019).
Los Angeles-based Singaporean actor Chin Han.
PHOTO: RUSSEL WONG
He is playing “a long game” when it comes to his career.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I’ve seen different things come into fashion and things go out of fashion. So, I’m not as alarmed.”
Book it/Singapore International Film Festival – In Conversation with Chin Han
Where: The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Road sgiff.com/forum/in-conversation-with-chin
When: Dec 4, 9pm
Admission: $10 from
