I don’t care that this isn’t horror. Ever since the first trailer dropped, I’ve been all in on this new Street Fighter movie. It looked like the filmmakers finally understood what fans have wanted for decades—a live-action adaptation that embraces the games instead of running away from them. The colorful visuals, the faithful costumes, the signature moves—it all felt like a love letter to the franchise, and I walked away convinced they were finally getting Street Fighter right.
Now we’ve got our first actual clip from the film, and…I’m not feeling it.
The scene appears to take place in a prison run by the villainous M. Bison (David Dastmalchian), where Ryu (Andrew Koji) is forced to fight Blanka (Jason Momoa). Before the fight begins, Blanka drags another prisoner in by a chain and fries him with his Electric Thunder move, giving us our first real look at the character in action.
Unfortunately, this is where the clip loses me.
Jason Momoa’s Blanka just looks…bad. The CGI is surprisingly unconvincing, and instead of seeing Blanka, I mostly see Jason Momoa painted green and covered in digital effects. At this point, I’m also getting a little burned out on Momoa showing up in every major franchise. Whether he’s playing Lobo or Blanka, it still just feels like Jason Momoa underneath the makeup.
Ironically, I think they nailed Blanka’s personality. He’s loud, wild, and larger than life, exactly as he should be. But visually, the character comes across as overly cartoonish in a way that clashes with everything else happening in the scene.
That’s especially noticeable when he’s standing opposite Ryu. Ryu looks fantastic. His costume feels grounded, his effects have weight to them, and when he unleashes Hadouken, it actually looks impressive. The problem is that Ryu and Blanca don’t feel like they belong in the same movie. One looks like a grounded martial arts adaptation with stylized visual effects, while the other looks like a fully CGI cartoon character dropped into the middle of it.
It’s a strange clash of visual styles that completely took me out of the clip.
I’m still optimistic because that first trailer genuinely won me over, but this first extended look has cooled my excitement quite a bit. Hopefully this ends up being one rough scene rather than an indication of what the finished movie has in store.
FIGHT! 🥊
The first showdown between Jason Momoa’s Blanka and Andrew Koji’s Ryu has arrived.
‘STREET FIGHTER’ hits theaters October 16. pic.twitter.com/HvaWrytcr2
— Brad @ Dread Central (@DreadCentral) July 30, 2026
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!
Helmed by director Kitao Sakurai, Street Fighter is set to bring the battle from the arcade to the big screen with Hadoukens, roundhouses, and all your favorite characters.
In theaters October 16, 2026.
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