‘Street Fighter’s’ New Teaser Has Fans Buzzing Over One Familiar Detail
Legendary and Paramount’s live-action ‘Street Fighter‘ adaptation has spent the past year slowly winning over a fanbase that had every reason to be skeptical. Video game movies have a rocky track record, and a roster this stacked, from Jason Momoa to 50 Cent to WWE’s Cody Rhodes, initially read more like stunt casting than a faithful tribute.
That skepticism started shifting once footage actually began rolling out. Fans who watched the film’s earlier trailers responded to its willingness to lean into the source material’s inherent silliness rather than dragging it toward grim realism, comparing the tone favorably to the campy spirit of the original 1995 ‘Mortal Kombat.’
Now a new teaser has zeroed in on exactly what made the games so beloved in the first place: the moves themselves. The clip, shared via Fandango strings together live-action recreations of signature attacks including the Dragonlash Kick, Shoryuken, Yoga Mummy, 100 Lightning Kicks, Buffalo Headbutt, and 100 Hand Slaps.
From the game to the big screen, see the special moves come to life in #StreetFighterMovie – in theaters everywhere October 16. Get tickets now!https://t.co/LiZIvmptQM pic.twitter.com/zeD080I7Up
— Fandango (@Fandango) September 21, 2026
Those moves map directly onto the film’s character lineup, with Noah Centineo’s Ken Masters and Andrew Koji’s Ryu likely behind the Shoryuken, Vidyut Jammwal’s Dhalsim tied to the yoga-based holds, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s Balrog a probable match for the Buffalo Headbutt. Hirooki Goto, the professional wrestler cast as E. Honda, is the clear candidate for the rapid-fire Hundred Hand Slap that has become one of the character’s most recognizable signatures.
The film is set in 1993 and follows estranged fighters Ryu and Ken as Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang, recruits them into the World Warrior Tournament, a competition secretly orchestrated by M. Bison and his Shadaloo organization. Kitao Sakurai directs from a script he co-wrote with T.J. Fixman, with the movie shot across Australia in late 2025.
Beyond the central trio, the ensemble reads like a wish list assembled from combat sports and pop culture alike. David Dastmalchian takes on M. Bison, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i plays Akuma, Jason Momoa is Blanka, Orville Peck steps into Vega, and Olivier Richters, known for his towering frame, was cast as Zangief.
Earlier trailers already drew comparisons to the franchise’s arcade roots, with fans calling out details like the destructible car from the games’ bonus stage making an appearance. The overall reaction so far has skewed toward relief that the filmmakers understood the assignment, treating the property as a love letter rather than an attempt to reinvent it as something more serious than it was ever meant to be.
That approach appears to be extending into this latest promotional push, which trades broader plot teases for a direct callback to the button-mashing specials longtime players know by muscle memory. For a franchise built on arcade cabinets and larger-than-life combatants, translating those exact moves to a live-action screen has always been the real test of whether this adaptation could work.
With ‘Street Fighter’ now just weeks from its October 16 release, the studio seems confident that showing off the moves themselves is the most effective way to keep momentum building. Judging by the reaction to earlier footage, fans are more than ready to see the Hadoken and Psycho Power thrown for real.
How do you feel about the recreated moves in the new Street Fighter teaser?
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.
