The friendship/rivalry between Ken and Ryu has always been the backbone of the Street Fighter video games, and for the first time, the relationship between these highly skilled warriors will be at the forefront of a live-action adaptation.
Discussing Film has revealed that Ryu and Ken's flashback scenes will be brought to life via hand-drawn 2D animation by Titmouse, and Paramount has now shared a first look at these sequences via a new featurette.
The flashbacks will explain how Ryu and Ken were ultimately driven apart, while introducing their Sensei Gouken, who will be played by Eternals actor Don Lee. These scenes will also focus on the villainous Akuma (Roman Reigns).
We weren't sure if Gouken would appear in the movie, and it remains to be seen how much of a role he'll play. In the video game lore, Gouken is the brother of Akuma, and was believed to have been killed by his vengeful younger sibling before ultimately returning to test his former students and bring them back together.
Street Fighter, which has a reported production budget of at least $100 million, is currently looking at a $20 million debut at the domestic box office, which would obviously be a disappointing start.
Check out the new featurette below, along with a Gouken character poster.
Kitao Sakurai (The Eric Andre Show, Twisted Metal) signed on to direct Street Fighter after Talk to Me filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou parted ways with the project.
“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!”
The movie stars Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Orville Peck as Vega, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, and Alexander Volkanovski as Joe.