Street Fighter Finally Gets Film Adaptation We Actually Want To See

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 17 seconds ago

Right after the Mortal Kombat II trailer got all of the fighting game enthusiasts excited, another new trailer has been released, and this one for the godfather of all fighting games: Street Fighter. The new preview dropped on April 16, 2026, and promises to be an extravaganza every bit as great as the video game.

The Ultimate Fighting Saga

The story seems to take place in 1993 and follows Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), the red-clad martial arts expert from the game, as he loses his way, drunk on stardom. He is shown being a superstar show off, and then getting knocked out by fellow game character Balrog (50 Cent). There is also a brutal defeat in a back alley by a white-clad martial artist, and finally a drunken Ken singing karaoke, wallowing in his defeat.

Meanwhile, Chun Li (Callina Liang) is recruiting all the familiar faces as statues and totalitarian imagery of M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) are cut into the story. She approaches Ken and tells him about the World Warrior Tournament, hinting that it is the cover for something more insidious. Meanwhile, Ken also gets a visit from old rival Ryu (Andrew Koji), who seems to be the fighter he faced in the alley. Ryu has some new tricks for Ken, but while the two prepare to enter the tournament, there are past scores to settle and a host of video game bad guys to fight through.

Gang’s All Here

Not only are they all there, including Jason Momoa as a frighteningly realistic Blanka, but the trailer shows them all doing some of their signature moves. Chun Li’s helicopter kick? Check. Guile’s axe kick? Check. Dhalsim’s stretching limbs, Vega’s Freddy Kreuger glove, and even M. Bison’s nuclear electricity? All there in fantastical special effects and live action. Gamers familiar with the roster of champions from the Street Fighter games will not be disappointed.

The movie also differs in tone from the 1994 version with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming Nah Wen, and Raul Julia in his last role. That movie was campy, cartoony, and fun in all of its ridiculousness, but it reinvented the back stories of all the characters to squeeze everyone into a plot in which M. Bison has taken diplomatic hostages in a bid to take over the fictional Myanmar knock-off, Shadoloo.

As much fighting as there was in it, there was absolutely no street fighting, despite the movie being named Street Fighter. It was just an excuse to get a lot of familiar characters together for a single story, and succeeded in that sense, but missed a lot of the richness of its source material.

This new release features so much street fighting that there are fiery trash barrels, back alleys, and all-or-nothing battles in the urban settings the game is known for. Sure, M. Bison has his big, glamorous tournament, but the character was always known for going big and was always the final resort of players who really needed to kick their opponent’s ass. But the rest of the characters have been returned to their humble origins: in the conduits and dark corners of the city. It really looks like a movie that deserves the name.

Street Fighter comes to theaters on October 16, 2026. Ready, set, fight!