We have a new look at the upcoming Street Fighter movie, this time showing off a decent chunk of a fight between Ryu and Blanka.
Ryu, played by Andrew Koji, finds himself in a cage and forced to fight by evil dictator, M. Bison. A chained Blanka, played by Jason Momoa, is dragged into the arena by hapless goons. And it doesn’t go very well for those goons — one is hit by Blanka’s electrocution power, and we see the x-ray skeleton visual effect that fans of the Street Fighter video games will know all too well.
The references to the fighting game franchise continue, as Blanka enters the fight with an immediate cannonball, as so many Blanka players start a match with. Blanka then tries a roundhouse kick followed by his iconic drop kick, which sends Ryu flying. Ryu pleads with Blanka, saying he doesn’t want to fight him. But Blanka isn’t having any of it, responding: “then, you die.”
Ryu then charges up a fireball, which explodes into the arena wall. It looks like it creates an opening through which I assume Ryu will make his escape.
This is our best look yet at Blanka in Street Fighter, and the VFX-drenched Momoa sounds while talking. Here, he’s got a sort of chirpy tone — he doesn’t appear to be a mindless beast, anyway. It will be interesting to see if Blanka gets much more screen time than this fight with Ryu, and, if so, his role in the overall story.
In the Street Fighter movie, Ken, played by Noah Centineo, and Ryu reconnect years after a falling out. Ryu has dropped off the radar in the ensuing years, growing long hair and a beard. Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang, is rounding up fighters for the world warrior tournament. She tells Ken, who had his own MTV show, that he's become a sideshow. In a lot of ways, Ken’s arc seems similar to Johnny Cage’s in the recently released Mortal Kombat 2 movie.
Street Fighter movie cast:
- Noah Centineo as “Ken Masters”
- Andrew Koji as “Ryu”
- Callina Liang as “Chun-Li”
- Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai as “Akuma”
- David Dastmalchian as “M. Bison”
- Cody Rhodes as “Guile”
- Andrew Schulz as “Dan Hibiki”
- Vidyut Jammwal as “Dhalsim”
- Eric André as “Don Sauvage”
- Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson as “Balrog”
- Jason Momoa as “Blanka”
- Orville Peck as “Vega”
- Olivier Richters as “Zangief”
- Hirooki Goto as “E. Honda”
- Rayna Vallandingham as “Juli”
- Alexander Volkanovski as “Joe”
- Kyle Mooney as “Marvin”
- Mel Jarnson as “Cammy”
And here's the official synopsis:
Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past. And if they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!
Street Fighter is set to hit theaters on October 16, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.