There are certain things that live forever in the hearts of ’90s kids: the sound of a dial-up modem connecting, the glow of a Lisa Frank notebook, those plastic choker necklaces we thought were the height of fashion—and the unmistakable cry of “Shoryuken!” cutting through an arcade full of blinking lights.

For me, Street Fighter wasn’t just a game. It was an era. It was a pioneer in the fighting game genre of video games like Mortal Kombat. I remember playing with my brother and his friends on the Super Nintendo (SNES) console, but my favorite was when I got to play it at the arcade. It was the thrill of executing a perfect Hadouken at just the right moment. It was the pride of finally mastering Chun-Li’s lightning kicks without mashing all the buttons like a maniac. 

And yes, I absolutely watched the 1994 Street Fighter movie—Jean-Claude Van Damme throwing flying kicks as Colonel Guile, Raul Julia—our beloved Gomez Addams—delivering a glorious performance as M. Bison (“For you, it was Tuesday”), Kylie Minogue and Ming-Na Wen bringing Cammy and Chun-Li to life. The movie was campy. It was chaotic. It was gloriously imperfect. And it was magic.

Flash forward to December 11 at The Game Awards, held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, where the packed audience not only got the very first sneak peek at the movie, but also got something extra. Imagine sitting in the theater, expecting the usual awards lineup, and suddenly the screen flashes Street Fighter blue. Then—bam!—the cast of the upcoming 2026 Street Fighter movie starts walking out like real-life character select portraits materializing on stage.

A Star-Packed Surprise Appearance

In a moment that sent the theater into a frenzy, several of the film’s stars took the stage to personally debut the footage. Among them were:

• Noah Centineo (“Ken”)
• Andrew Koji (“Ryu”)

• Callina Liang (“Chun-Li”)
• Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai (“Akuma”)

• David Dastmalchian (“M. Bison”)
• Cody Rhodes (“Guile”)

• Andrew Schulz (“Dan”)
• Vidyut Jammwal (“Dhalsim”)

• Orville Peck (“Vega”)
• Olivier Richters (“Zangief”)
• Rayna Vallandingham (“Juli”)

• Mel Jarnson (“Cammy”)

• And yes—Jason Momoa, who not only plays Blanka but also serves as a producer.

The first-look sizzle reel revealed glimpses of all 17 iconic Street Fighter characters, each rendered with grit, style, and enough nostalgia to make fans lose their collective minds.

A Story Set in 1993—Right Back Where Street Fighter Became Legend

The official synopsis confirms that the film takes us back to 1993, set amidst the global boom of competitive fighting games and martial-arts cinema. Our estranged heroes Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are drawn back into the arena when Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the newest World Warrior Tournament.

But—as the trailer teases—this isn’t just a tournament arc. It’s something darker, more personal, and much more dangerous.

Behind the spectacle 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!”

If that doesn’t feel like classic ’90s martial-arts cinema energy, I don’t know what does.