Street Fighter is getting Round 2 of its Hollywood treatment after Legendary Studios acquired filming rights for the series. Here’s who we think should star in this iconic fighting game franchise’s second major motion picture.
Street Fighter is coming back to the silver screen nearly thirty years after its first foray into Hollywood back in 1994.
Although the flick was initially met with poor reviews, it has since become a cult classic thanks to its over-the-top action, wacky storyline, and unforgettable performances from the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, and Ming-Na Wen.
A lot has happened in the world of Street Fighter since this movie graced the big screen. A slew of new characters have been introduced to the series, and with them, new storylines.
Most notably, Street Fighter 6 took the lore back to its Third Strike days, acting as a sequel to the groundbreaking title that shook up the franchise’s formula in a major way in the late 90’s.
With this in mind, there’s a wealth of new directions that Legendary’s upcoming Street Fighter flick could take. However, for the sake of simplicity, we’re going to assume that filmmakers will make use of the series’ most recognizable faces and its most basic storyline that casual fans will likely know and love.
We’ve gathered just a few of our top picks to star as Street Fighter’s top talent, taking into consideration the actors’ overall appearances as well as their martial arts skills.
This film will undoubtedly be an action-packed feature filled with hand-to-hand combat, so athleticism is a must, as is previous experience in stunt work and choreography.
Chun-Li: Ming-Na Wen or Ziyi Zhang
It’s hard to think of a better fit for the ‘strongest woman in the world’ than the woman who first played her live-action adaptation: Ming-Na Wen.
Although Wen has aged since the movie was filmed, she’s still kicking ass in The Mandalorian, and we could definitely see her pull off high-flying kicks as Chun-Li once again.
It’s difficult to argue that she didn’t make her mark on the character in a huge way, and it’s difficult to imagine anyone else taking up the mantle of the ‘strongest woman in the world.’
That being said, Ziyi Zhang is also a close contender for the role. The Chinese film legend has starred in a wide array of action films, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers, just to name a few.
Her martial arts skills are second to none, and so is her charm — just watch Memoirs of a Geisha if you need convincing. She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll kick you in the face… there’s no better descriptor for Chun-Li, and Ziyi Zhang fully fits the bill.
Ryu: Mike Moh or Kane Kosugi
Ryu is Street Fighter’s main protagonist and one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. The Wandering Warrior is on a constant mission to hone his skills and is always seeking ever-more challenging opponents. As such, his casting has to be near-perfect.
First up is American actor and martial artist Mike Moh. Street Fighter fans might recognize him from his portrayal of Ryu in Joey Ansah’s Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist limited series, where he starred alongside Christian Howard’s Ken.
Moh showcased his flawless combat skills in this time-honored portrayal of the fighting game series — but he also wowed audiences worldwide with his take on Bruce Lee in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
It’s clear that Moh has the martial arts experience and acting chops to play one of the most recognizable faces in fighting games.
Our second pick for Ryu goes to Kane Kosugi, an American martial artist and actor who is also the son of legendary Japanese thespian and former All Japan Karate Champion, Sho Kosugi.
Kane has been training in martial arts since he was two years old, and has starred in a fair few films and TV series like Kamen Rider and Ultraman. He has even voiced a video game character in 2023’s Wild Hearts, further cementing him as a perfect fit for Street Fighter’s leading man.
Ken: Christian Howard or Alexander Skarsgard
Ken is Ryu’s BFF and training partner, who studied with him in the ways of Shotokan-style Karate. Ken is a difficult pick for us; although there’s a slew of blondies in Hollywood, few have the martial arts know-how to pull off a convincing Ken Masters.
That’s why our first pick is Christian Howard, who portrayed Ken alongside Mike Moh in Assassin’s Fist. He’s got the pretty boy looks and combat sports skills to back up his pedigree as someone who can go toe-to-toe with Ryu and live to tell the tale.
We can’t rule out a possible casting for Alexander Skarsgard, though. He’s a major name in Hollywood and he’s definitely got the chiseled abs and long hair to pull off Ken Masters (see his performances in The Northman and Tarzan), on top of the work ethic and choreography know-how from his time training to be a ruthless viking.
Cammy: Scarlett Johansson or Sydney Sweeney
Cammy was a bit of a difficult casting decision for us. Although there’s a slew of blonde bombshells in Hollywood, there’s few who could pull off some of Cammy’s signature Red Delta moves (and have the badonkadonk to match).
Ultimately, we decided that we couldn’t write off Scarlett Johansson as a possibility for the part; she’s got a ton of action scenes and stunt work under her belt, having famously portrayed Black Widow in many Marvel movies.
Lauded for her beauty and badassery, we’d have to say that Scarjo is our first pick for one of Street Fighter’s most iconic leading ladies.
However, another solid choice for Cammy has to be Sydney Sweeney. The blonde bombshell has become an icon in American cinema thanks to her starring roles in HBO’s Euphoria, Anyone but You, and Madame Web, where she showed off some of her skills doing high-flying superheroine stunts.
That’s not all; Sweeney is also playing US boxer Christy Martin in an upcoming biopic, so it’s safe to say that she’ll be getting in some tough training in the ring.
She even claimed that she used to kickbox and grapple when she was younger, so we can presume that she’s got enough combat sports know-how to pull off one of Street Fighter’s most mobile combatants.
Guile: Steven Lang or Alan Ritchson
Guile is Street Fighter’s All-American hero. He’s a military man through and through, and it’s not hard to look through Hollywood’s A-List to find someone who could possibly portray the famous fighting game ‘family man.’
But we’re picky, and our first choice for an older Guile would, obviously, have to be Steven Lang. Although Lang notoriously played a villain in the Avatar movies, it’s hard to ignore his near perfect-casting as a hardass Army Colonel with the beefy muscles to match. We could see him throwing a few Sonic Booms, despite being 70 years old.
For a younger Guile, we decided to go with Alan Ritchson. Ritchson has ample experience with action-packed films, having played roles in The Hunger Games and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, on top of his starring role as Jack Reacher. The man is seriously pumped up and has all the qualifications in place to pull off a Flash Kick on the big screen as a Guile in his prime.
Zangief: Nathan Jones or Hafthor Bjronsson
Street Fighter is filled with larger-than-life characters, and Zangief is one of its biggest. The massive Russian wrestler towers over his competition at seven feet tall and weighs in at a whopping 254 lbs.
As such, anyone portraying him should fill the screen with an intimidating physical presence, and we’ve got two picks in mind that would be perfect for this muscular Russian fighter.
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Our first — and arguably, the most obvious — choice is Nathan Jones. Jones’ filmography spans a wide variety of major Hollywood pictures, including Mad Max Fury Road and iconic martial arts film The Protector.
The man stands at 6’11” tall and weighs a jaw-dropping 345 lbs. When it comes to sheer physicality, he’s a perfect pick for Zangief. And considering his previous work in action films, it’s clear that he’s capable of pulling off massive, muscular character’s signature moves.
Hafthor Bjornsson is our second choice for Zangief. Best known for his role as The Mountain in Game of Thrones, Bjornsson is a professional strongman who’s taken home the title of Europe’s Strongest Man multiple times.
With the right hair and makeup, this six-foot, nine-inch tall mountain of a man could easily portray Street Fighter’s hulking Russian wrestler. Horosho!
Balrog: Jonathan Majors or Mike Tyson
Balrog is one of Street Fighter’s original bad guys. Based on former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Balrog is a badass boxer who’s also one of Shadaloo’s Four Heavenly Kings. He’s nothing to mess with and one of the baddest boxers out there — but who to cast as this Street Fighter OG?
We had a bit of a tough time choosing an actor to portray Balrog, but ultimately landed on Jonathan Majors. Majors is in peak shape after landing his role as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Phase 5. He’s also got solid boxing chops, having trained in the Sweet Science for his role in Creed III alongside Michael B. Jordan.
While things have been quiet for Major after he was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend in 2023, the actor has since been spotted training hard for a potential new role, going “full gym rat” in preparation for a gig that would require him to be “superhero ripped.”
In terms of sheer looks and boxing ability, Jonathan Majors is our number one pick for this role. Just don’t get in the way of his fight money!
However, given the fact that Balrog was based on one of the baddest boxers of all time, we’d be hard pressed not to throw in Mike Tyson’s name for consideration.
Tyson is hailed as one of the greatest boxers of all time — and despite retiring from the sport literal decades ago, he’s still got what it takes when it comes to speed and power. He’s also starred in a few movies, the most notable of which is Ip Man 3, where he got to show off his boxing skills in a fight with Donnie Yen.
Mike’s shown that he’s still got it, as he’s currently gearing up for a fight against YouTube star Jake Paul in a bout that’s being live-streamed on Netflix in a huge move for the platform. Despite his age, Mike is one prolific fighter who can still “bust you up,” make no mistake.
Sagat: Marko Zaror
In the 1994 Street Fighter film, the hulking Muay Thai fighter Sagat was portrayed by Cherokee actor Wes Studi.
Studi brought an undeniable flare to the role that has withstood the test of time, but since he’s aged out of the part, it’s time to look toward a new generation of actors to take up the mantle of the ‘King of Muay Thai.’
Our first and only pick for this role is Chilean actor and martial artist Marko Zaror. Zaror boasts an eye-popping filmography, playing parts in John Wick 4 and Alita: Battle Angel.
It’s also hard not to pin him as Sagat after watching his performance in 2023’s Fist of the Condor; his bald pate and wrapped fists all but scream ‘Sagat,’ and we can’t think of a better fit for the part, considering his physical resemblance to the character.
Vega: Adam Rodriguez or Justin Baldoni
Vega is another one of Street Fighter’s main villains. The Spanish bullfighter / ninja has a flair for the dramatic and is often overly concerned with his appearance, protecting his face with a mask.
There’s a slew of amazing Hispanic action stars out there, but when it comes to pulling off this villainous Spanish heartthrob, we had two specific names in mind.
First up is Adam Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez hasn’t exactly had any shining action-based roles, he’s definitely got the physique for Vega, notably starring in Magic Mike and Magic Mike: XXL (a movie about male strippers, in case you didn’t already know).
With that in mind, he can clearly memorize choreography and has dancing skills, which could be translatable to a martial arts role.
Justin Baldoni is another name that comes to mind. Similar to Rodriguez, Baldoni doesn’t exactly have any martial arts credits to his name, but he’s played a slew of roles in such productions as Jane the Virgin and Single Ladies. He’s also a stunner — so there’s no problem living up to Vega’s beauty in that regard.
Bison: Scott Adkins or Eric Dane
Shadaloo’s big bad, M. Bison, was one of the most challenging roles for us to cast out of this entire list. It’s difficult to pin down a perfect role for this character, who served as Street Fighter’s main antagonist for the majority of the series before his eventual demise in Street Fighter V.
Standing around 6ft tall, Shadaloo’s evil leader is always searching for the perfect vessel to house his Psycho Power… but who’s the perfect vessel to play him in a movie?
It’s hard to beat Raul Julia’s goofy portrayal of Bison in the 1994 flick (we will never get over his rousing speech about Bisonopolis). Unfortunately, Raul passed away shortly before the film’s release, and now we’ve got to look for another man to serve as the face of Shadaloo.
Our first pick for the part is prolific action star Scott Adkins. You might recognize him from his role in John Wick 4 as ‘Killa,’ the purple-suited antagonist who went toe-to-toe with Keanu Reeves in an explosive fight scene at a seedy nightclub.
Physically, Adkins definitely has what it takes to serve a few scissor kicks to the gizzard, and he’s a pretty faithful lookalike for a younger Bison, if the story goes in that direction.
For an older Bison, we also landed on Euphoria’s Eric Dane. Dane is no stranger to playing villains, and he’s also no greenhorn when it comes to action scenes, thanks to his leading role in 2014’s The Last Ship TV series.
He’s got the facial structure and physical presence to play the King of Shadaloo, as well as the acting chops to pull off an intimidating villain who will stop at nothing to become the world’s strongest fighter.
Although it’s unclear what Legendary’s Street Fighter flick will look like, there are a few requirements it’ll need to meet for diehard fighting game fans.
It’s got to be an ass-kicking movie with a ton of top-tier martial arts stars and jaw-dropping action scenes.
If it’s a bit silly, that’s to be expected — Street Fighter is filled to the brim with a ton of over-the-top characters, after all.
But at its core, we hope it’s a film that’s faithful to Street Fighter’s characters and introduces an engaging story that fleshes out some of its iconic World Warriors in a way we haven’t seen before.
