From kids that grew up in the 80’s to kids that grew up in the 2010’s, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that hasn’t played some iteration of the no-hold-barred brawling game “Street Fighter”, created by gaming industry legend Capcom. Since 2023, a movie about the iconic PVP has been in development after Legendary Entertainment acquired the adaptation rights from Capcom.
The film has went through a full retool behind the scenes, first employing Australian YouTubers turned horror filmmakers Danny and Michael Phillippou to direct but losing the duo due to a scheduling conflict. Kitao Sakurai who directed the 2021 comedy “Bad Trip” and episodes of “Twisted Metal” was then hired to take their place. Since April, the movie has been making a ton of wild casting announcements, but we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of everyone that’s confirmed and heavily rumored to appear in “Street Fighter”
The film has went through a full retool behind the scenes, first employing Australian YouTubers turned horror filmmakers Danny and Michael Phillippou to direct but losing the duo due to a scheduling conflict.”
Andrew Koji tops the list as Ryu. Koji was amazing in his portrayal of a martial arts prodigy in Bruce Lee’s “Warrior” series and definitely has the moves to pull off a fireball or helicopter kick on Ken. Noah Centineo will be playing Ken, whose biggest role to date was in Netflix’s ‘All the Boys’ franchise. He was also in the anti-hero movie “Black Adam” but has yet to be confirmed for the part of Ken. He doesn’t fit the casting as well as Ryu, but we will of course keep an open mind.
Callina Liang who had a large role in Steven Soderbergh’s 2024 horror film, “Presence”, is set to play Chun-Li. The Interpol officer looking to avenged her father’s death is one of the most iconic female action characters of all time and was originally played by sci-if legend Ming-Na Wen in the 1994 version of the movie, so Liam has some big shoes to fill.
In a surprising casting decision, WWE superstar Roman Reigns plays the infamous Ryu doppelgänger, Akuma. Akuma is actually the younger brother of Ken and Ryu’s former master in the video game lore but it’s unclear what origin story the character might have here. In another wild decision, Jason Momoa has been cast as Blanka. This seems on brand for Momoa and his brutal caveman style, but the actual visuals of whatever Blanka is with his greenish skin and electricity powers might be best left to the imagination… Hopefully with not too much CGI.
The increasingly popular David Dastmalchian is now set to be the big boss M. Bison. Walton Goggins was initially rumored to play the evil commander, but it’s possible availability was an issue. Dastmalchian has just the right temperament for a villain like Bison and will hopefully hav e room to insert his strange creative process into the mix here. More recently there have been strong rumors that country star Orville Peck, who always wears a mask and has never shown his face in public will portray the stylish villain Vega who is nicknamed the “Spanish Ninja”.
In the vein of musical perming artists in the cast, 50 Cent has been confirmed to join the cast as villain Balrog, a shady boxer employed by M. Bison’s crime syndicate Shadaloo. The character was initially based on Mike Tyson and initially had the name M. Bison in the Japanese version of the gamer but the American version switched the 2 villains names because the games creators got too scared of a lawsuit with Tyson in the United States. In early July, Nexus Point News reported that Cody Rhodes, another WWE superstar, will play Air Force Pilot Guile. Guile is actually looking for his friend Charlie in the original version, who had become Blanka due to experiments conducted upon Charlie by M. Bison, but Guile’s motivations in this new remake are still unclear.
Andrew Schulz is surprisingly reported to play Dan, a more arrogant version of Ryu and Ken with long hair. Dan was trained by the same master of Ryu and Ken and wanted vengeance for his father’s death, but there have been no reports of Dan’s backstory in this film. We predict that he will play ore of a comic relief role. Another wrestler cast is Japanese Professional, Hirooki Goto, as E. Honda. The actor doesn’t have the expected size of the video game version, but is very explosive in the ring and might make for a more entertaining spectating experience due to his increased speed.
For OG character Dhalsim, Indian action star Vidyut Jammwal has been tapped for the role. It’s unclear whether Dhalsim will be controlled by M. Bison in the movie or if all elements of the original movie will b e come;lately thrown out. With a fanbase more loyal to the original game from 1987 than the movie, it’s likely that Legendary Entertainment will opt to use this movie as a palette cleanser from the flawed but beloved original.
What do you think? Who will play Zangief and Sagat? What will the plot revolve around? How dark can Dastmalchian get? Will Dan be as douchey as he was in the game? How will Akuma the anti-hero fit in? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
