Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

If you’ve never seen the original adaptation of legendary beat’em up video game, Street Fighter, then honestly go now. It’s not, by any stretch of the imagination, good but it is frequently very fun and includes Raul Julia’s final performance which is just flat out great. The new movie is filming now and follows estranged brothers in arms Ryu and Ken as they’re recruited into the World Warriors Tournament by fellow fighter Chun Li. The movie is set to release October 2026 and makes some choices with its cast. Alasdair Stuart gets into that right now.

Andrew Koji as Ryu

Best known for his work in the excellent Warrior and Black Doves, Koji is a great physical actor and an excellent actor. He’ll be playing the hero of the piece, Ryu.

Noah Centineo as Ken Masters

The future Rambo! Centineo is best known for his work on the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movies which are genuinely great fun but has some solid action chops too including the upcoming Rambo prequel and recent Netflix show The Recruit. He’ll be playing Ryu’s dojo mate and frenemy, Ken Masters.

Callina Liang as Chun Li

Seen recently in the excellent ghost movie Presence, Liang will be playing Chun Li, the game’s iconic female lead.

Cody Rhodes as Guile

Here’s where things start getting funky. Current (?) WWE Universal Champion and irrationally good looking man Cody Rhodes is playing the role Jean Claude Van Damme originated, US soldier and all around jump kicking badass, Guile.

Mel Jarnson as Cammy

Mel Jarnson played Nitara in the first Mortal Kombat movie of the current run and is set to return in the sequel, which, confusingly, means she’ll be in two revivals of two fighting game movie adaptation series next year!

David Dastmalchian as M Bison

This is probably the best possible choice. Dastmalchian is a legendary character actor, and if you somehow missed him in Late Night with the Devil, The Suicide Squad or Murderbot check them or anything else he’s done out. He’s fantastically talented, arch, wry, threatening and weird by turns. GREAT choice

Rayna Vallandingham as Juli

An American martial artist (13 time Taekwondo world champion), actress and influencer, Vallandingham was a breakthrough in the final season of Cobra Kai as Zara Malik of the Iron Dragons. She’s playing Juli, who, along with Cammy, is part of Bison’s assassin/bodyguard unit the Dolls.

Orville Peck as Vega

One of the best country and western singers of the modern era and a man who can wear a mask like no other, Orville Peck will be playing Chun Li’s arch nemesis, the intensely vain mask-wearing assassin Vega.

Jason Momoa as Blanka

A small boy who crashed in the Amazon and was exposed to electrical eels which triggered his inherent mutation (these games are a LOT) Blanka is a green-skinned, semi bestial figure and one of the most popular stars of the game. Momoa’s a great choice for this and given he’s almost certainly showing up in Supergirl as bounty hunter Lobo, it’s fun to see him engage wth his grungy era.

Eric André as Don Sauvage

…what?

For those of you who don’t know, Andre is a cul comedian, and a very very good one. He’s also a phenomenally talented comic actor and has one of the most impressive resumes of anyone on this line up include 2 Broke Girls, The Righteous Gemstones, Disenchantment, Ironheart and a personal favourite, Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23. Don Sauvage meanwhile is a ring announcer from the games. So maybe don’t expect hm to have too many fights, but he’s going to announce a lot of them.

Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki

And here’s where things get hinky. Schulz is an American comedian who plays to the hard right crowd while claiming he’s doing nothing of the sort. In a cast of wildly eccentric choices, he’s the one that stands out as actively bad. He’ll be playing Dan Hibiki, a Ryu wannabe and arrogant blowhard who is a tenth as smart or skilled as he thinks he is and that’s maybe, JUST MAYBE, a self-aware choice that will pay off. Still, it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

Roman Reigns as Akuma

Leati Joseph Anoaʻi is best known as Roman Reigns, one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the West. The ‘Tribal Chief’ held the WWE world Universal title for over 1,300 days (yes, we know it’s scripted) and Reigns landed some pretty serious dramatic beats in that time too. You’ve previously seen him in Hobbs and Shaw, but this is one of his first big roles. Akuma is a relentlessly focused, occasionally supernatural and brutal fighter and his combination of regal authority and strange moral codes is something that Reigns has had, oo, about 1,300 days to get very good at.

Alexander Volkanovski as Joe

Alexander Volkanovski is the current Featherweight Men’s UFC Champion. He’s an intensely talented martial artist but aside from a recent appearance in a Hilltop Hoods music video, he’s not really acted before aside from his surprisingly fun YouTube channel. He’ll be playing Joe, a kickboxing champion and one of the original opponents from the very first game.

Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson as Balrog

And here’s the other ‘…huh’ casting. Jackson, best known as a rapper, will be playing American boxer Balrog. In Japan, he’s actually called M. Bison but outside Japan, the name was shifted to a different character to avoid some pretty cut and dried seeming likeness issues.

Jackson’s a surprisingly prolific actor and very much in the same neighbourhood as Schulz in terms of his views, so the press tour’s going to be rough. You should, maybe, see him in Escape Plan. Under no circumstances, especially his performance, should you watch Expendables 4.

Olivier Richters as Zangief!

Great choice! The largest man in the Reacherverse, Olivier Richters is a physical presence and a more than decent actor too who’s been part of Borderlands, The King’s Man, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Black Widow among others. He’ll be playing Zangief, large Russian wrestler and I like to think spiritual grandfather of Thunderbolts*’ Red Guardian.

Hirooki Goto as E. Honda

Sumotori E. Honda is one of the original badass big guys in fighting games and he’s being played by another legit in-ring talent. Hirooki Goto is regarded as one of the best workers in Japanese Pro Wrestling. Intriguingly given he’s sharing the screen with Cody Rhodes whose return to ‘finish his story’ was one of those moments where pro wrestling works so well, he’s also a perennial ‘nearly’. An endless challenger for the New Japan Pro Wrestling belt, Goto came up short time and again until he finally won this February. Bless him.

Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim

A gifted martial artist in the Indian form of Kalaripayattu, Jammwal is a Bollywood action star best known for his work in the Commando series. He’ll be playing Dhalsim, the original game’s iconic yogi.

The movie is set in 1993, two years prior to the real world release of the original movie and is directed by Kito Sakurai who’s previously directed for Twisted Metal, Dave. The Premise, Butterfly and The Eric Andre Show. It will release on October 16th 2026. It’s written by Dalan Musson, best known for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Captain America: Brave New World.