Hold onto your seats because the one and only Jean-Claude Van Damme is about to take the gaming world by storm., again Yeah, you heard me right. The man himself is going to be the star of a mega fighting game dropping this year.

Now, let me tell you, this ain't some spontaneous decision. Oh no, no, no. Jean-Claude, at the sprightly age of 62, has been turning down this role for ages. He was actually supposed to be the one and only Johnny Cage in the original Mortal Kombat game, but every single time he was asked to official be a part of it, he said, "Nah, not my thing."

The game's creators practically begged the 'Muscles from Brussels' to join the party year after year, but Jean-Claude always said, "Sorry, not interested, my friends." In an interview, the mastermind behind the Mortal Kombat series spilled the beans. Ed Boon himself revealed, "We had big plans, you know? We wanted to put Jean-Claude's face from Bloodsport in the game and make it all fancy and digitized. But nah, he said no."

Maybe the stars aligned or something because Van Damme reconsidered. That's right, Jean-Claude Van Damme has had a change of heart as he is finally stepping into the role of Johnny Cage in the Mortal Kombat reboot, which they cleverly named Mortal Kombat 1.

We're not sure if they'll capture Jean-Claude in all his glory or if they'll just use his prime years as inspiration. But who knows, maybe they'll even get him to record some hilarious voice lines. I can already imagine him shouting, "Roundhouse kick!" or something equally badass.

Despite Jean-Claude' reluctance to be in a video game, has had some history with fighting games. Remember that Street Fighter movie from 1994? Yeah, the one that got roasted by critics but still made bank at the box-office? Well, Jean-Claude played the all-American hero Guile in that little cult classic.

So mark your calendars because this September is going to be a wild ride. We've got Mortal Kombat 1, Street Fighter 6, and Tekken 8 all dropping at once. It's going to be one heck of a season and Jean-Claude Van Damme will be at the center of it all.