Given all the deep-cut fighters and faithful costuming, it sure feels like this Street Fighter improves upon the 1994 film. That movie, famously but allegedly written by Steven E. de Souza over a single substance-fueled weekend, cared so little for its source material that it didn’t even bother to pronounce Ryu’s name correctly, forever confusing generations of American nerds.

To unnecessarily complicate a story about a bunch of weirdos punching and kicking each other, de Souza weaved a tale about UN peacekeepers led by Guile (Van Damme) investigating the dictator Bison (Raúl Julia). Yet somehow, that movie’s combination of incredible commitment (see: Julia chewing the scenery despite a terminal cancer diagnosis) and a remarkable lack of commitment (see: Van Damme playing an American), Street Fighter (1994) has become a classic.

Well, a classic to some, anyway. Surely, devotees of the Street Fighter video game series hold that corny film in contempt. To them, the 2026 movie seems ready to bestow upon the franchise the respect that it deserves. Then, the day Bison comes to us will truly be the most important day of our lives, whether that Bison is Raúl Julia or David Dastmalchian.

Street Fighter blasts into theaters on October 16, 2026.