Hi, everyone.
My name is MiamiSamurai. This is my first article here on CBM, and I hope I do a good job with this one. I've been reading a lot of casting idea articles for comic book and video game franchise films, and the one I want to do is the Street Fighter movie franchise. For this article, I will add original and alternate choices for some of the characters, based on their resemblance of the characters, as well as being convincing, too. Plus, characters that would appear in a possible trilogy. I hope you all enjoy it.
Ryu:
Original: Lyoto Machida
Alternate: Mike Moh
With Lyoto Machida, he has the looks and resemblance to Ryu down to a science. Hell, he even uses Karate, a similar fighting style to Ryu's Ansastsuken. Machida is spot on Ryu look alike if I ever saw one. Mike Moh, on the other hand, is my alternate pick, due to the fact that he's starring in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, which takes place during the events of Street Fighter Alpha's storyline. In any case, Mike Moh could be the young Ryu in flashbacks while Lyoto Machida could be the main Ryu.
Chun-Li: Ziyi Zhang
I couldn't think of anyone who could pull off Chun Li (aside from Ming-Na Wen) other than Zhang Ziyi. Ziyi as proven her martial arts prowess before in such films as Rush Hour 2, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and especially Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Zhang definitely could be a convincing Chun-Li.
Ken:
Original: Urijah Faber
Alternate: Christian Howard
As far as Ken goes, it was a tough choice between Urijah Faber and Christian Hwoard. With Urijah Faber, he has the whole laid back California vibe that Ken is known for. Christian Howard, on the other hand, has the looks and the attitude of Ken, not to mention being the producer and co-star of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. It would be kind of a toss up between the two, but both look like they could pass for being Ken.
Guile:
Original: Scott Adkins
Alternate: Jensen Ackles
Scott Adkins would be my original choice to play Guile, due to the fact that he has some martial arts experience, starring in such films as The Expendables 2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Jensen Ackles, however, has the All American appeal (again going with the theme of the character here) and some acting chops to go along with that as well. Another tough choice, but I'm leaning towards Adkins.
E. Honda: Akebono
Akebono was an obvious choice. He's a sumo wrestler and he closely resembles E.Honda.
Blanka:
Original: Ray Park
Alternate: Clay Guida
Ray Park is my first choice for Blanka, because the man can play a character, and can easily adapt to them. He's known for playing as Darth Maul, Toad, and Snake Eyes, and has pulled off each character rather nicely, so he would have no problem as Blanka. Clay Guida, however, has that animalistic, caveman appeal to him (going with the theme of the character again) and could be a rather convincing Blanka. All they need is orange hair, green skin, fangs, and they're set.
Zangief: Andrew Byrniarski
Yes, I know he starred as Zangief in the 1994 film, but he was a spot on resemblance of Zangief. Although he was made up to be a comical character in the original, I see more as a stoic, hard-hitting, serious wrestler. You know the term, if it ain't broke don't fix it? Well, this applies to Byrniaski reprising his role as Zangief.
Dhalsim:
Original: Arnold Vosloo
Alternate: Rudy Youngblood
Arnold Vosloo is my original choice for Dhalsim, thanks in part to his role as Imhotep in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. He has a certain mysticism about him that could benefit from him playing as Dhalsim. Rudy Youngblood, however, looks like he could be a more ripped version of Dhalsim. If you seen him as Jaguar Paw in Apocalypto, then you know where I'm going with this. Vosloo has the looks, Youngblood has the physique, but I'm slightly leaning towards Vosloo.
Balrog: Roy Jones, Jr.
Roy Jones, Jr. would make a pretty good Balrog, in terms of believability. He has the experience as a boxer, and acting chops from the Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions as Captain Ballard. The only thing that would make this complete is a cameo from Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield...maybe.
Vega: William Levy
I came across the telenovela La Tempestad, and saw William Levy, and thought he would make a great Vega. He has the blonde hair, all he needs is some gymnastics training, blue matador pants, the purple snake tattoo, and the trademark claw and mask, and voila, he's Vega. He even looks like him, too.
Sagat:
Original: Derek Mears
Derek Mears seems to be the more popular choice for the role of Sagat. He's got the height and the menancing look to pull off Sagat, not to mention the striking resemblance.
M.Bison: Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving as played as some very memorable villains such as The Red Skull in Captain America, Megatron in the Transformers movies, and Mr. Smith in the Matrix series. I think he could pull off being a cold, calculating M.Bison, rather than being over the top like the late Raul Julia.
Appearing in the second movie:
T.Hawk:
Original: Jay Tavare
Alternate: Gil Birmingham
For T.Hawk, it was a toss up between Jay Tavare and Gil Birmingham. Jay Tavare was the original Vega in the 1994 Street Fighter movie, but why have him as T.Hawk, who was originally played by Gregg Rainwater? It's sort of like a passing of the torch, per se, with Tavare (as T.Hawk) facing off against Vega (Levy) in a battle. Alternately, Gil Birmingham has the looks and physique to pull off T.Hawk. It's close to call, but either man would do T.Hawk justice.
Dee Jay: Uriah Hall
Uriah Hall is my top choice for Dee Jay for many reasons. He's from Jamaica (obviously), he's a kickboxer, and he's played a lot of fighting games such as Street Fighter (and Tekken) as inspiration for most of his moves. So he's a great choice to play the happy go lucky, kickboxing Jamaican sensation.
Fei Long:
Original: Jay Chou
Alternate: Stephen Chow or Danny Chan
What we have here is three actors with a lot in common. With Jay Chou, he played as Kato in the Green Hornet movie, and other films such as Kung Fu Dunk, True Legend, and Curse of the Golden Flower. Stephen Chow and Danny Chan have both starred in Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, but only Chan has starred as Bruce Lee in the biographical television series, The Legend of Bruce Lee. All three could pass for Fei Long, since he's already a reference to Bruce Lee. So it would be interesting to see how any of them could play out.
Cammy: Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is my top choice for Cammy, after watching her performance in Edge of Tomorrow. She can pull off the Cammy look just as good as Kylie Minogue did. All she needs is some gymnastics training, since Cammy does a lot of flips and cartwheels along with her deadly moveset.
Appearing in the third movie:
Akuma: Joey Ansah
I know he's starring as Akuma in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, but he's beyond convincing as Akuma. Nuff said.
Adon: Xin Wuku
I'm pretty sure you know who this guy is, and if you proabably forgotten, he's The Urban Ninja, Xin Wuku. He's a spot on to play Adon in my opinion, from the spiky orange hair to his high flying Muay Thai and Kung Fu prowess, Xin is not just Adon, he's a video game cahracter brought to life.
Rose: Jordana Brewster
I like Brewster for the role of Rose. It would give her much versatility, not to mention she's great to look at. She's got good acting abilities.
Cody: Kellan Lutz
Just on resemblance alone, Kellan Lutz could be Cody Travers in real life.
Guy: Kane Kosugi
Kane Kosugi already has played the ninja character in all of his movies, including the DOA movie. So naturally, he would be a good fit as Guy.
Juni and Juli: Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge
Juni and Juli are twins, so naturally going with a set of twins for the role would be a good choice. They don't have to do much other than be Bison's bodyguards. Also, one of them has to dye their hair brown.
Charlie: Chris Pine
Let's just get this out of the way: Charlie is NOT Blanka! Now that we got that out of the way, Chris Pine would make for a good Charlie. He has the acting skills to be a leader, playing as Capt. Kirk in the Star Trek movie series.
Sakura: Aya Ueto
Aya Ueto resembles Sakura Kasugano to a science. She looks just like her. It would be interesting to see how she would interact with Ryu (Machida or Moh).
Dan Hibiki: Stephen Chow
I previously had Stephen Chow in mind as a possibility to be Fei Long, but I remembered that he was also a comedian, and that Dan was a comedic character. So instead of being casted as Fei Long, Chow could be Dan Hibiki.
Gen:
Original: Donnie Yen
Alternate: James Hong or Gordon Liu
Let's blotch Robin Shou as Gen out of our minds right about now. Robin Shou should be only remembered as Liu Kang, and nothing more. Other than that, I think either Donnie Yen, Gordon Liu or James Hong would be perfect for the role of Gen, especially Hong, with his performance in Big Trouble in Little China, and Gordon Liu for his role as Pai Mei.
Dudley: Idris Elba
Finally, rounding out my ideal cast is Idris Elba, who could pull off playing Dudley. He's from England, a gentleman, and has the muscles to pull off being the classy Birish boxer.
Well, that's all the actors I had in mind for my ideal dream cast for the Street Fighter series. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it. Again, this is my first article here. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think. Thank you.