Street Fighter is a gaming series that seems impossible to adapt into a live-action film. Back in 1994, we got the Jean Claude Van-Dam led Street Fighter movie, which is campy as hell, and features the meme-worthy M. Bison, played by the legendary Raul Julia, and a cast of almost every single Street Fighter 2 character at the time. In the 2000s, we got a solo focus film – Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which is so bad that we dare not mention it out loud in polite society.
Animation has done a bit better. Street Fighter 2: Victory from Japan was a smash hit, even if the story rewrote a TON of major lore to suit 26 episodes. There was the USA Network Street Fighter cartoon, which followed after the 1994 movie, and was horrible. We got animated movies too, Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie is a masterpiece, with a great 90s rock/grunge soundtrack in the dubbed version, and 2 movies from the Alpha series that were ok-ish.
Fast forward to 2025, at The Game Awards, and Street Fighter is about to hit Hollywood again, with a new movie from Legendary Entertainment, directed by Kitao Sakurai (This guy directed Twisted Metal for Peacock, so I’m giving this movie a bit of a break from the get-go), and a screenplay from Dalan Musson (Captain America: Brave New World).
To celebrate the release of the sneak peek trailer, which you can watch yourself below, the whole cast rocked up on stage to show off the trailer and to give an award… Yes, awards are a thing in this 4-hour trailer-fest…
As an avid Street Fighter fan, I’ve watched this sneak peek about 100 times, looking at every moment and wondering what the story might be, what the character looks and acts like, and who is missing from the trailer. So, why not take a moment to talk about what I saw in detail so people can rip into me in the comments? I’ve got hot takes, and I’m about to launch them like a HADOUKEN at your face!
Andrew Koji as Ryu
If there is anything that you MUST get right in a Street Fighter movie, it’s the casting of Ryu. Ryu is central to the whole story, given that his power is what gets interest from Akuma and M. Bison, thus making the story of the games something more akin to a power struggle between good and evil instead of the dumb “I want to take over the world” story that we got in the 1994 movie.
Andrew Koji has the right look, since he is half-Japanese, which is the same as Ryu. Plus, Koji has a background in martial arts, so you know that his fight scenes are going to look authentic and awesome at the same time. There are no notes for this casting or look. 10/10.
Noah Centineo as Ken Masters
Nothing says Street Fighter more than a former Disney child actor with a former drug problem. Centineo is one of those “why?” casting choices since he has zero name value, no martial arts background, and just doesn’t look anything like Ken.
This is one of two characters that would have been better cast with AEW wrestler Kenny Omega, who is a huge Street Fighter fan/player, who has dressed as Street Fighter characters before (Kenny did a cosplay as Akuma for an episode of AEW Dynamite). Hell, even the Young Bucks, who did cosplays of Ken & Ryu respectively, could do a better-looking job and have the skills to back things up and make them look legit.
But who knows, Centineo might surprise us all and be halfway decent. 5/10.
Callina Liang as Chun-Li
Ok, let’s take a look at Callina… TikTok creator turned actress with 2 credits under her belt before being cast in Street Fighter… Yep, this’ll be a fail. Sure, she did appear a lot in the trailer, but 90% of her fight work is going to be wirework anyway.
I’m a bit torn on the costume. They are going for something that pays homage to Chun-Li’s Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter 2 costumes, but something just looks off about it in the preview shots. It almost looks like a bad cosplay of a costume. If you want to see how to do a good cosplay of Chun-Li, I will always point to Yaya Han and Yuan Herong as great examples of how to make the character look legit… Because let’s face it, Liang doesn’t seem to have DEM THIGHS that fans are going to want to see with this character.
But hey, maybe her acting is going to overshadow the fact that she seems like Chun-Li cosplayer from TEMU… 7/10.
Jason Momoa as Blanka
Perfect, no notes. 10/10.
Seriously, Momoa has the size, look, and is goofy enough to play Blanka. Hell, when the casting came up, he went to his agent and said he is taking the role no matter what. He said as much during the segment at The Game Awards, and having talked with the man a few times, I believe him. This looks like a mixture of CGI and practical effects, which would do justice to our big green goofball… Now make him get nailed by a watermelon like in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and I’m good to go.
Roman Reigns as Akuma
Now, if this were the Street Fighter 6 version of Akuma, with the big white hair and beard, then I’d be ok with this casting. However, as we are talking Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo era of Akuma, I’m not liking this casting. Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai (Do you think he’s heading down the same path as his cousin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson?) is a wrestler by trade, and most wrestlers do not make good-looking martial artists unless they are trained. Anoai isn’t trained.
If you wanted a wrestler in this role… Again, Kenny Omega would be a good choice. But if you wanted to save this casting of Joe Anoai, then make him shave his beard, or CGI it out, or something, then I’d be much more accepting of this casting. 6/10.
Cody Rhodes as Guile
Ok, Cody looks good in the promo poster shot, but when you see him in the film stills, he looks like someone was doing one of those Asylum movies from the early 2000s. Hell, even the Jackie Chan parody in City Hunter looks better than how they made Guile look in this movie.
I will admit, I have more faith in Cody Rhodes making the switch from wrestler to fighter more than what I do with Joe Anoai… But that hair, man! I know the producers want to make everyone look as authentic as possible, but you didn’t need to glue that mop to Cody’s head in order to get the look. Cody’s normal look with a slight growth of his bleached blonde hair would have been just as good, but that mop looks horrible. 7/10.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog
Look, I get it. You want to add some “name value” to Street Fighter, but 50 Cent is not going to be a big draw in 2026. I will give them some credit on the look, 50 does look like a modern boxer, almost channeling Muhammad Ali with Balrog’s look. However, there is a better option, even if he isn’t the best actor on the planet… Mike Tyson. Tyson still has the size and look needed for the role, and if worst comes to worst, run his high-pitched voice through a vocaliser and make it deeper, or ADR it.
Something about 50 Cent’s casting just feels off. Like there is going to be something he’s done in the past that will come out at the last moment and make the film go through some negative press or something. I can’t put my finger on it, but something feels off about him. That being said, he looks the part… 7/10
David Dastmalchian as M. Bison
Nope, don’t like it. David just doesn’t have that villain aura that is needed for M. Bison. The costume is fire, though, feels like an updated version of the Raul Julia version from the 1994 film. But his casting feels more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon villain rather than the threatening leader of a worldwide criminal organization.
You want someone who has that main villain aura that M. Bison needs, then you cast Alfred Molina. That’s a guy who gives pure villain energy, and would be able to not only push that threatening presence that the character needs, but that smooth, calculated cult leader side that they’re going to ignore in this movie. 6/10
Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim
I’m not going to be too harsh on this one, as Dhalsim is one of those looks that is impossible and very unhealthy to play if he looked like the character in the games. Jammwal has a martial arts background, many action credits in Bollywood, and looks like he’d do his best with what will probably be a limited role. 9/10.
Orville Peck as Vega
What is it about casting musicians in the role of Vega? Someone please explain this to me.
I get this guy is one of those “I’ll never show my face” type musicians, so that’s probably why he was cast, and it will mean we won’t see him unmasked in the film at all, which removes the reason why he is masked in the first place. Vega’s vanity is a big part of his character, and I doubt we’re going to see that shown in the movie.
Then there is the costume… What the fuck is that? The only parts that even relate to the character are the mask and claw, with nothing else indicating that the character has a background in the Toreador arena. Does he even have the snake tattoo? Will he fight shirtless at some point? There is a lot to be known about this horrible-looking and weird casting. 3/10
Olivier Richters as Zangief
GEIF! Dude is huge, a bodybuilder, and obviously got some help from Cody and Joe on how to wrestle. Have him rip the shirt off to show some bear-made scars, and I’m happy. 10/10.
Hirooki Goto as E. Honda
Goto, a former New Japan Pro Wrestling world champion, really packed on the beef for this role. His background in not only wrestling, but sumo is going to make his probably brief time on screen worth watching… Now, only if the costume department didn’t let him down. No striped muwashi, and no face paint. This is a letdown. 4/10
Mel Jarnson as Cammy
An Australian-Thai actress playing a British character… *Bangs head on desk* Sure, you know what, fuck it.
I’m guessing she was cast because they needed some local actors in order to qualify for the Australian Film grants that helped pay for this movie. Why else would you cast someone with only 4 credits in a role that was formerly played by an Australian actress? So you can say, “Hey, Cammy is Australian again!”.
The Cammy look here is more of her “Killer Bee” persona that she had while under the control of M. Bison. So, expect the “bad girl turns good” storyline to happen in this version of Street Fighter. Even her look comes from Street Fighter Alpha 3, so it’s safe to say that’s the angle they are going for. I can’t really complain about Jarnson, since she looks close enough to the character, since nationality seems to be optional for European characters in this film. 7/10
Rayna Vallandingham as Juli
The Cobra Kai “Karate Hottie” gets a role in Street Fighter? SOLD! If you’ve seen her in Cobra Kai Season 6, then you know she’s going to be the breakout fighter on the roster. Sure, we lose another European character (Juli is German) in a movie that seems to be trying to keep nationality in the casting, but I guess we can forgive that for someone with amazing martial arts and acting chops. 9/10
Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki
So, you cast a comedian as Dan… Fitting. However, bro looks like a pedophile. What the fuck were they thinking!? This is disrespectful to the character, the fans, and everything good about Street Fighter. 0/10.
Alexander Volkanovski as Joe
Woah! Someone did their research and pulled out one of the Street Fighter originals for this movie. Joe is a boxer who most people would have fought against in their first fight in the original Street Fighter arcade game. I’m happy to see him in the movie. Plus, Volkanovski is an MMA fighter, so I’m guessing we’ll see Joe go from a boxer to an MMA guy, which is fine with me. 8/10
Eric André as Don Sauvage
If you need someone who can be a loudmouth and funny at the same time, Eric is a good choice for a background character who is getting a bigger role in Street Fighter.
For those who don’t know Don Sauvage, he is the commentator of the Capcom Wrestling Association, which many people would know from the game Saturday Night Slam Masters, where characters like Mike Haggar from Final Fight, Alex from Street Fighter 3, Rainbow Mika from Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Zangeif have all appeared in, or have been associated with.
Will this mean we’ll get a Mike Haggar cameo? Or will Don Sauvage be the mouthpiece of the whole Street Fighter tournament? Does he work for Shadowloo? These are questions that I have, and maybe some of them will be answered when the movie releases.
El Fuerte? Adon?
Near the end of the Street Fighter trailer, there is a moment that features a couple of characters that were not on the list of cast characters, or at least one of them.
In what looks like a kickboxing ring, we see someone in red trunks knock down Street Fighter IV wrestling superstar El Fuerte. I had to go back into the trailer a few times before I noticed this addition, thinking it might have been Rufus going up against Ken, something that is canon in the Street Fighter canon… And do you blame me? El Fuerte is a luchador, a Mexican wrestler, and he is a very fit and lightweight in his video game look, but here? El Fuerte looks like he’s the size of the current version of the WWE’s Rey Mysterio (aka, he’s gained a lot of weight).
The other fighter, whom I am still unsure of, could either be Adon from Street Fighter/Street Fighter Alpha, or it could be Ken. The same character shows up at the end of the trailer, doing a front kick to a car that is getting demolished. In both moments, he isn’t clear enough to work out who he is. But if this is Adon, then it raises another big question.
Missing: Please Notify If Found
There are a few characters missing from the Street Figher line up that make me wonder, one standing above the rest.
Juni is the counterpart to Juli, the two working with Killer Bee/Cammy for M. Bison. In most Street Fighter games, the two are usually seen together. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, they are selectable characters, while in more modern games, I think they team up in a super move. So having one without the other just feels like an odd choice, since this movie could do with all the women fighters it can get because… diversity and all that.
Also, due to Cammy showing up in Street Fighter, it makes me wonder where her other Super Street Fighter 2 debut characters are. T. Hawk, Fei Long, and Dee Jay would make good additions to the roster, giving some good fight scenes with the right casting. A dance club fight with Dee Jay would rock, seeing someone struggle against the tower of muscle that is T. Hawk would be a good character development moment, and Fei Long would be a great addition with a Kung Fu style to oppose the other Karate-based fighters. But, since this would make the roster very bloated to keep track of, I guess keeping these three out makes sense.
The one that makes me wonder the most about why he isn’t around, since he is key to Ryu’s story, is Sagat. For those who don’t know, Street Fighter ends with Sagat as the final boss, with Ryu going to the dark hadou (Which we know will be a part of the film) and splitting open Sagat’s chest with a Shoryuken. This is the first time that we see the Dark Hadou, which brings Ryu to Akuma’s attention. Without this moment, I don’t think that the reason for Akuma to fight Ryu is worth exploring. Plus, Sagat is one of the Four Kings, the bosses in Shadowloo, which would leave M. Bison without one of his main commanders and biggest threats in the Street Fighter tournament.
I’m not saying that Street Fighter is going to be a terrible film, but given the way that the casting was presented and the trailer itself raised some red flags as a fan of the franchise. I really want Street Fighter to succeed, but I don’t think that the story, characters, or style have been adapted in a way that takes everything seriously, relying on a cartoon nature and almost a mockery of the game.
That being said, from what I could see, Street Fighter is going to be one of those movies that is going to have a lot of easter eggs for the fans, combined with some very hard-hitting fight scenes that will get people excited. Given that the director of Street Fighter was the guy behind the excellent Twisted Metal adaptation, I’m willing to give Street Fighter a break until I go to the theater and see the result for myself.
Fuck it, no matter if this movie is good or bad, I’ve still got the only good adaptation of Street Fighter that’s worth watching – Street Fighter: The Animated Movie
