New Street Fighter Trailer Is Here, And It’s Everything We Wanted

Video game movies have had a rough track record for decades, but 2026 is shaping up to be the year that curse finally breaks. Hot on the heels of Mortal Kombat 2, Paramount and Legendary just released a new trailer for Street Fighter, and it’s a glorious, sweaty, hadouken-flinging mess in the best way possible.

What’s the Movie About?

Set in 1993, the film follows estranged fighters Ryu and Ken Masters, who get pulled back into the fight game when the mysterious Chun-Li 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 eventually forces Ryu and Ken to throw down against each other and confront the demons of their pasts. Miss the tournament, and it’s GAME OVER, literally!

Director Kitao Sakurai is bringing the arcade game to the big screen with all the Hadoukens, roundhouses, and fan-favorite characters you would expect from a proper “Street Fighter” adaptation. This is actually the third live-action attempt at the franchise, and based on the trailer, it looks like the team finally cracked the code.

That Cast Is Absolutely Stacked

If you thought the plot sounded good, wait until you see who’s suiting up. This ensemble is a wild mix of actors, athletes, comedians, and musicians:

• Noah Centineo as Ken Masters
• Andrew Koji as Ryu
• Callina Liang as Chun-Li
• Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma
• David Dastmalchian as M. Bison
• Cody Rhodes as Guile
• Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki
• Eric André as Don Sauvage
• Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim
• Orville Peck as Vega
• Olivier Richters as Zangief
• Hirooki Goto as E. Honda
• Rayna Vallandingham as Juli
• Alexander Volkanovski as Joe
• Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog
• Jason Momoa as Blanka

Yes, you read that correctly: Jason Momoa is playing Blanka, the electric, jungle-dwelling green mutant, and he’s doing it through a full CGI performance rather than just a costume job.

Two WWE stars, a UFC champion, a rapper, and a drag icon rounding out a Street Fighter roster is exactly the kind of chaotic casting energy this franchise deserves.

Why the Trailer Is Winning People Over

The trailer leans fully into the campy, over-the-top energy of the games rather than trying to play things straight, and that’s earning it a lot of goodwill online. Early reactions describe it as ridiculous, colorful, and just plain fun, which is exactly the tone a “Street Fighter” movie should be chasing after decades of adaptations that took themselves way too seriously.

There’s a real hadouken. There’s Chun-Li dropping fools with her signature kicks. There’s a CGI Blanka voiced and performed by Jason Momoa going full beast mode. It’s unapologetic arcade chaos brought to life.

Part of the credit goes to Sakurai himself. He’s best known as a regular collaborator of Eric André (who also appears in the film as Don Sauvage), and that background shows in the trailer’s willingness to be weird and stylized instead of generic. The action sequences reportedly hold up too, with well-staged fight choreography mixed in among the more fantastical, larger-than-life moments.

Paramount even released a playable version of the trailer on YouTube, letting fans tap along on a virtual arcade cabinet as it plays. It’s a gimmick, sure, but it’s a fitting one for a movie built entirely around nostalgia for quarters, joysticks, and combo inputs.

When Can You See It?

Mark your calendars. “Street Fighter” hits theaters everywhere on October 16, 2026. With a stacked cast, a director who clearly understands the assignment, and a trailer that’s already got the internet buzzing, this could be the video game movie that finally gets it right.

Are you ready to press start?