It’s been more than a month since we’ve gotten an update on what’s happening with the new Street Fighter movie over on their production blog. Now they’ve made one, and it’s not particularly good news.
We already knew that this movie was being focused on Chun Li. What we didn’t know was that meant there wouldn’t be room for Street Fighter’s other major characters. When asked if Street Fighter staples Ken and Ryu would show up in the film, one of the movie’s producers had this to say: “Justin, Ashok and Capcom got together and decided to make it more of an origin story for Chun Li. There are just way too many characters in the Street Fighter universe to cram them all into one film. We want to do each one the justice he/she deserves. So, in short, Ken and Ryu will not be appearing in this film. But, that doesn’t mean we won’t see our red and white-clad heroes in potential sequels…” In other words no.
It’s a somewhat odd decision when you consider that there are very few people left out there who are all that into Street Fighter anymore anyway, except as a vague memory of a childhood spent indoors on rainy days. And of those few who do remember, ask them who their favorite character to play was and you’re likely to find that fully half of them will end up picking Ken or Ryu. Chun Li might not even place. Yet somehow, Chun Li has her own movie. Strange indeed.
Also somewhat surprising is the way they’re costuming this thing. A few weeks ago the first pic of Kristin Kreuk in costume as Chun Li leaked online… and she looked nothing like Chun Li. There’s a reason for that. They don’t want the movie to look like a silly videogame. That’s probably smart, considering how well it didn’t work out the last time someone tried to make a Street Fighter movie. They do however guarantee that at some point, “Chun Li will sport her trademark buns (the ones in her HAIR!) and of course, Vega’s still got the mask and claw, for starters.”
