10 Best Martial Arts Shows If You Love Mortal Kombat

Published Aug 2, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock. Mortal Kombat has become the first name in supernatural kung fu stories. The original video games are iconic, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg; they’ve been adapted into live-action movies, live-action TV shows, animated movies, animated TV shows, a stage show, an online game, a collectible card game, comic books, novels, and novelizations of the movies. If you’re a Mortal Kombat fan, there’s no shortage of official Mortal Kombat material to enjoy. But if you’ve somehow run out of Mortal Kombat stuff — you’ve run out of games, run out of movies, and even run out of TV shows — there are plenty of other places for you to get your fill of supernatural kung fu. The spirit of Mortal Kombat lives on in dazzling, action-packed martial arts shows like Warrior and The Brothers Sun. Shows like Naruto and Into the Badlands have brought the kung-fu-fighting thrill of the Mortal Kombat games to the screen. Shows like Daredevil have recaptured the visceral thrill of having the controller in your hands and experiencing the bone-breaking hand-to-hand combat for yourself. Every Mortal Kombat fan needs to check out these shows. The Brothers Sun The Brothers Sun is a rare action comedy that nails both its action and its comedy. It has a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, but it also takes its action seriously. Martial arts movie legend Michelle Yeoh plays the lead role as “Mama Sun,” and she brought over veteran stunt coordinators from Everything Everywhere All at Once to do the action for The Brothers Sun. The series’ hand-to-hand combat has its own distinctive aesthetic, just like Mortal Kombat. Bloodhounds Bloodhounds recently released its second season on Netflix, and it’s a perfect K-drama for beginners. It mixes the melodrama of a Korean soap with the grit and brutality of a Korean action movie. Adapted from Jeong Chan’s Naver Webtoon of the same name, Bloodhounds revolves around a young boxer who joins forces with a small-time crook and a money lender to take on a dangerous loan shark organization. It’s got everything that makes Mortal Kombat so much fun: high stakes, big personalities, and lots and lots of fighting. Cobra Kai Over the past decade, Cobra Kai has singlehandedly reinvigorated the martial arts genre. It’s a sequel to The Karate Kid, picking up with those young martial artists in their adulthood as they train the next generation of fighters. But the show is strong enough to appeal to audiences who haven’t even seen The Karate Kid. Cobra Kai might not be as heightened as Mortal Kombat — it’s planted much more overtly in the real world — but it has that same spirit. It’s all about the honor of fighting clean, and what happens when you come up against an opponent who fights dirty. Naruto Along with One Piece and Cowboy Bebop, Naruto was one of the early anime gems that broke through to the west. Cowboy Bebop was the gateway anime that got western audiences to embrace the joys of Japanese animation, and Naruto was one of the many shows to bask in that crossover international success. Based on the bestselling manga of the same name, Naruto follows an orphaned ninja who dreams of becoming the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It’s not just a martial arts actioner; it’s a touching coming-of-age tale dressed up as a martial arts actioner. Daredevil Netflix’s dark, gritty Daredevil series is as much a martial arts show as it is a Marvel superhero show. Matt Murdock and Elektra both trained under Stick to become the best martial artists in Hell’s Kitchen, and they use those skills to fight crime on every street corner. In its second season, Daredevil introduced The Hand — Marvel Comics’ secret underground ninja society — as major antagonists. There’s more martial arts action in Daredevil than in a lot of shows that more easily earned the “martial arts show” label. Into The Badlands The Walking Dead is one of the biggest TV franchises of the past two decades, but it’s not the only time AMC has dabbled in the post-apocalyptic genre. Into the Badlands is a curious genre cocktail; it’s been dubbed a high-octane sci-fi martial arts series. Into the Badlands brought the wuxia style of action choreography to the end of the world. It’s got all the kung fu fighting you expect from a typical martial arts series, but it takes place in a post-apocalyptic America. Much like Mortal Kombat, it sets its martial arts action against the backdrop of gonzo worldbuilding. Striking Vipers (Black Mirror) This isn’t a whole show; it’s just one episode of an anthology show. But it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to a direct TV adaptation of an arcade fighting game like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, especially with a lavish streaming budget. In Black Mirror’s season 5 premiere, “Striking Vipers,” two old friends reconnect through an online VR fighting game, where they embody various Mortal Kombat-style fighters and engage in brutal one-to-one matches (and lots of hot sex). Creator Charlie Brooker ingeniously uses the VR conceit to explore closeted homosexuality, marital infidelity, and gender dysphoria, but he also uses the titular Street Fighter parody to have some fun with flashy videogame visuals. Kung Fu The original martial arts show is still one of the best. Kung Fu predates the Mortal Kombat franchise (in fact, it may have even been an early influence on the games), but it’s perfect for fans of the franchise. The series stars David Carradine, best known as Bill from Kill Bill, as a Shaolin monk named Kwai Chang Caine, who we follow on his adventures through the American Old West. Kung Fu is an intoxicating blend of a martial arts show and a TV western, and it’s just delightful. It’s old-school action-adventure television done right. Warrior The undisputed GOAT of martial arts cinema is Bruce Lee, and despite the fact he died in 1973, Lee created one of the best martial arts shows of the 2010s. Lee developed the concept for Warrior in the ‘70s. Set during the Tong Wars in late-1800s San Francisco, the series follows a young martial arts master who emigrates from China to search for his sister, and gets sold to a powerful tong in Chinatown. Lee couldn’t get the show greenlit, even in the heyday of his career, but his daughter, Shannon Lee, eventually got it made on his behalf. Fast & Furious director Justin Lin and Banshee creator Jonathan Tropper worked with Shannon to bring Warrior to life, half a century after her dad had initially pitched it. Avatar: The Last Airbender Avatar: The Last Airbender isn’t just one of the best martial arts shows ever made; it’s one of the greatest TV masterpieces of all time. It belongs in the same conversation with The Wire and Breaking Bad and Chernobyl — it’s that freaking good. The martial arts fight sequences are great; they have fantasy elements, and gorgeous anime-inspired animation. But all that stuff is just gravy on top of a really deep, moving, human story. Although it’s been labelled a kids’ show, Avatar: The Last Airbender touches on some really dark, profound themes, like war, gender politics, and authoritarianism. It gave young viewers an accessible way to engage with these big ideas, and it still holds up today as one of the finest achievements in the medium of television, let alone just the martial arts genre. TV Show(s) Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Video Game(s) Mortal Kombat (2011), Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Mortal Kombat (1992), Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal Kombat 1 First Film Mortal Kombat Cast Robin Shou, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto, Christopher Lambert, Linden Ashby, Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada