Which Shows Would Liu Kang Love? The 'Mortal Kombat' Actor Reveals His Picks | Sorry Not Sorry
Created in 1992, videogame Mortal Kombat has never lost its popularity, leading to an entire franchise of games and movies.
Paul W. S. Anderson’s 1995 Mortal Kombat was one of the very first video game movie adaptations. Since then, several more have been released, the most recent, Mortal Kombat II, being one of the early highlights of 2026.
WATCH: Which Movies Would Liu Kang Love? The Mortal Kombat Actor Reveals His Picks! #mortalkombat #shorts
Whereas its predecessor spent zero time during an actual Mortal Kombat tournament, instead more focussed on exposition, Mortal Kombat II jumped straight into battle and never let up. The sequel also gave game favourite, Liu Kang, more to do. Played by Ludi Lin, the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie saw Kang arrive very late in the game and then underused him.
Mortal Kombat II did a far better job at working him into the story, but there was still a lot of downtime. This got us thinking, with so much free time across the two movies, what was Lui Kang up to? What films might he have been watching?
Does Liu Kang Like Dragon Ball?
During the press tour for Mortal Kombat II, JustWatch put the question to Ludi Lin, who wasn’t entirely sure. In the movie, his character takes his training and involvement in the tournament extremely seriously, and as such, probably never takes time to chill. Instead of answering strictly for his character, Lin instead chose to share one of his own favourites, but one that Liu Kang would potentially enjoy too: “I don’t know if he’s the Dragon Ball kind of guy, but I’m definitely a Dragon Ball kind of guy.”
Dragon Ball is a property very close to Ludi Lin’s heart with the actor sharing that his love of the show goes all the way back to its Manga source, “My first Mangas and anime were Dragon Ball. The Mangas back then were so expensive to me, but I still saved up and purchased them.”
What is Dragon Ball About, and Where to Start
Although it took several years to reach the US and UK, the Dragon Ball anime series debuted in Japan during the ‘80s, running from 1986 to 1989 for a total of 153 episodes. The story follows martial artist Goku, a young boy with a monkey tail, as he sets out to find seven magic Dragon Balls that, when used together, summon a dragon capable of granting wishes. Throughout his journey, and as he grows from a boy into a man, Goku encounters a series of increasingly powerful foes that he must fight in order to save Earth.
Considering the battling for Earth aspect of Dragon Ball, it is easy to see how Ludi Lin was drawn to playing Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat movies. In fact, Lin also sees similarities between the two franchises in terms of their impact. During his chat with JustWatch he explained, “To me, Dragon Ball and Mortal Kombat, they are these forever franchises. They’ll just keep going and going because people love the characters so much and they keep wanting to see their stories retold.”
Dragon Ball proved popular enough across the world that not one, but several continuation and spin-off shows were created. If, like Ludi Lin and Liu Kang, you catch Dragon Ball fever, once you have finished the first 153 episodes, there are 100s more episodes across the series' Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Daima. There’s also a live-action movie, Dragon Ball Evolution, but the less said about that, the better.
More Ludi Lin Action Movies To Watch
Having grown up on Dragon Ball, Ludi Lin got an appetite for the action genre at a young age. His love of the genre is evidenced in his body of work, the most obvious being his two outings as Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat movies. His portrayal is more Zen and respectful than that of Robin Shou’s in the original. That version of the character was fighting his destiny in the tournament whereas Lin’s iteration fully embraces his fate. Considering the cliff-hanger ending of Mortal Kombat II, it seems that Liu Kang might become more central to the plot in the inevitable third movie.
Before these movies, Lin featured in a range of other high-profile action properties including Aquaman, where he played villain Captain Murk, Monster Hunt, which was, for a time, the highest-grossing movie in China, and finally the Power Rangers reboot, where he played Black Power Ranger, Zack. Whereas Aquaman and Monster Hunt both performed well, Power Rangers struggled, but in reality it is a solid attempt to reboot a popular franchise. Far more dark and brooding than the high camp and colour of the ‘90s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie, the reboot is one of those movies worthy of reassessment and Ludi Lin is great in the role of Zack.
Ludi Lin’s next listed IMDB projects, Eternity and Finding Theo, appear to be light on action, but with a third Mortal Kombat on the horizon, it won’t be long until the actor is back in action on screen. In the meantime, should a new live-action Dragon Ball movie or show be announced, Ludi Lin would be a perfect fit.
You can now catch Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max in the UK.
