Immortal Villain: Why Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was the perfect Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat
And in a film where only two performances truly held the screen — Johnny Cage’s Hollywood-luminary swagger and Tagawa’s quiet, aristocratic menace — it was the sorcerer, not the hero, who walked away with the franchise’s soul. Tagawa died on 4 December 2025, but the villain he created continues to exist with unsettling permanence. Because some characters grow. Some characters fade. And some characters transcend their creators entirely.
And in a film where only two performances truly held the screen — Johnny Cage’s Hollywood-luminary swagger and Tagawa’s quiet, aristocratic menace — it was the sorcerer, not the hero, who walked away with the franchise’s soul. Tagawa died on 4 December 2025, but the villain he created continues to exist with unsettling permanence. Because some characters grow. Some characters fade. And some characters transcend their creators entirely.
