10 Differences Between Street Fighter 2026 Movie and Games

10 Differences Between The Street Fighter 2026 Movie and Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 key differences between the upcoming “Street Fighter” movie and the games it's based on.

The Plot Itself

Judging from the aesthetics and cast, it’s safe to assume that the “Street Fighter” movie is starting with some iteration of “Street Fighter II” instead of basing everything off of the 1987 original. But what’s strange is how deep they seem to be going with the story and who they’re choosing to focus on. The movie seems like it will have more of a focus on Ken with Ryu playing second fiddle. But that’s not what “Street Fighter II” was about. The game shows M. Bison using the First World Fighting Tournament as a means to lure Ryu and company to his temple, exacting his revenge for putting an end to his criminal empire. Some semblance of that story may be brought to the movie, yet it seems that may not be the case.

Ken

One of the trailers of the “Street Fighter” movie shows Ken in a rather unflattering state. He drinks, seems depressed, and uses his fighting prowess as more of a party trick than a tool for combat. This sort of lines up with his story in “Street Fighter II”, in which he enters the tournament after being inspired by Ryu’s own personal goals. However, Ken also believes he may have lost some of his skill because of spending too much time with the fiancee. The thing is that Movie Ken appears to have a different motive as the trailer paints him as someone who once had a legendary career in martial arts before losing it all. Even Chun Li seems to acknowledge this with a single line: “You’re not a warrior anymore - you’re a sideshow. This is your shot at redemption.”

Guile

We don’t want to be too negative on the costume design let alone a movie that isn’t even out yet. But one thing we want to point out is Guile. For the most part, Cody Rhodes does look like Guile in body build, performance, attire…but not the hair. The hair is simply not as wide and flat as Guile’s hair typically is in the games. If anything, it almost looks like he could pass for Paul Phoenix from “Tekken” but if someone gently smashed the top down a bit. It’s not a dealbreaker for us, yet it’s kind of distracting us from what’s been done correctly. At least it's lightyears better than the Jean-Claude Van Damme version we got in 1994.

Special Moves

The few trailers we’ve seen have kind of kept the special moves under wraps. The closest we’ve gotten is seeing Ryu perform a Hadouken with Guile clearly having a bit of a meltdown over it. Still, we have to wonder how much of the game will be portrayed in the fight scenes here. After all, “Street Fighter” tends to get super cartoony in its combat. Sure, the movie is looking like it will lean into how absurd the fighting can get. Still, the brief shots of Dhalsim, Blanka, and even Akuma have us wondering just how fantastical, weird, and wild are they going to get with this?

Swearing

Since the ESRB formed in 1994, “Street Fighter” has maintained a rather consistent tone and visual style that constantly nets it a “T for Teen” rating. Most of the time, the ESRB rates it T because of “Violence” (you know, the fighting), “Suggestive Themes” (usually labeled because of revealing clothing and innuendos), and “Mild Language”. Games with “Mild Language” typically only utter words like “crap”, “hell”, or “damn” and are used somewhat sparingly. The “Street Fighter” movie, on the other hand, seems like it’s going to have a lot more attitude and vulgarity. Granted, this is judging one shot of Chun-Li uttering a harsher swear word, but this isn’t “Mortal Kombat”. It’s likely using whatever profanity it can get away with to net a PG-13 rating.

Don Sauvage

One of the strangest aspects of the “Street Fighter” movie is the inclusion of Don Sauvage. For those unaware, Don is a very obscure “Street Fighter” character”, having only ever appeared in “Street Fighter V” as the CWA announcer in Zangief’s story. It is such a small role in a bigger character’s story that it’s almost confusing to see him as the announcer of the entire tournament and being played by comedian Eric Andre. Who knows, maybe this was just a bit of fan service to throw in for the hardcore players.

Fighting Cars

In the latest trailer, we got a little bit of fanservice in the form of a nod to “Street Fighter’s” classic bonus stages. There is a brief snippet of Ken at a nightclub and performing a powerful kick to a poor, unsuspecting car, knocking its hood off in the process. As most of us fans know, the bonus stages let us wail on vehicles for a certain period of time, potentially reducing them to rubble. This moment may wind up just being a nod and nothing more. Still, there’s a part of us that hopes we get to see Ken or anyone give that car a total beatdown.

Cammy

Now, what I’m about to say is by no means fueled by any disrespect towards Mel Jarnson. She is gorgeous, no doubt, has a good acting career going for herself, and it’s cool seeing her be a part of yet another huge fighting game franchise. (Jarnson played Nitara in the 2021 “Mortal Kombat” movie.) However, after Cammy remarks to Chun Li about not being impressed with her legs, we gotta ask “what the hell, man?” Ever since her debut in “Super Street Fighter II”, Cammy has been just as famous for her deadly legs and kicks as Chun Li is and is always shown bulked up. It's why the community has forever been divided between Chun Li and Cammy. So, what gives here? Sure, Jarnson does look more like Cammy in her pre-development artwork and wears the costume very well, but if you’re going to have her utter that line, even as a joke…then, shouldn’t Cammy have the same toned, muscled, jacked as hell legs just as she does in the games?

Akuma

Akuma is another character that looks very off in the “Street Fighter” movie to the same degree as Cammy. Granted, Roman Reigns does have the build to portray a menacing character such as Akuma. But what’s throwing us off is the facial hair. Now, to be fair, Akuma has had beards before. He had one in “Street Fighter V”, and he has one in “Street Fighter 6”. Both are styled in a way that makes him look like a vicious lion, not like a guy with just a regular beard. Reigns is a guy with a regular beard, and when you have a look like that for Akuma, well, it just looks like Roman Reigns cosplaying as Akuma. Here’s hoping Reigns can fade into the role.

Blanka

So, here’s the thing with Blanka; in terms of color and overall visual design, they nailed it. Blanka does look like Blanka…but just like with Mel Jarnsen’s Cammy and Roman Reigns’s Akuma, we gotta wonder what the thought process was behind the casting. Part of us thought that Jason Momoa would simply be providing the voice of Blanka or, worst case, they would have makeup and CG make his face more like Blanka’s. After all, Blanka has a face that’s more akin to a gorilla, probably from the mutation caused by the plane crash he endured when he was human. But once again, it simply looks as if Jason Momoa is just cosplaying Blanka, just as Reigns is cosplaying Akuma, Jarnsen is cosplaying Cammy, and Rhodes is cosplaying Guile. We mean no disrespect to the cast at all - we only wish they all looked more like their respective parts.

Was there a notable difference in the “Street Fighter” movie trailers that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays.