When the main cast for the Street Fighter reboot was announced, one major character was conspicuous by his absence.
It seemed strange for this warrior, who was one of the original four bosses in the Street Fighter II arcade game, to be left out of the lineup, especially when his story is so closely linked to Ryu's (Andrew Koji).
Major spoilers follow.
We are, of course, referring to the incredibly dangerous Muay Thai expert known as Sagat, who actually does appear in the movie, albeit in animated form!
Ryu faces Sagat in the opening flashback scene, and after taking a brutal beating, he allows Akuma's dark influence to take control, defeating his opponent with a devastating Dragon Punch that gives Sagat his signature chest scar.
Ryu embraces the darkness again during his final battle with Akuma, and is able to overpower the "demon." While Ken, Chun-Li, and Dan Hibiki attempt to hold Ryu at bay, M. Bison and his lackeys manage to capture Akuma in order to harness his dark "Hado" energy.
Ken is ultimately forced to take his friend down with a Hadouken fireball of his own, but manages to revive him by singing a karaoke song they used to perform together.
Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Dhalsim and the others then set off to find Bison, who hasn't finished recruiting fighters for his own nefarious means. In the animated post-credits scene, we see Sagat training in the forest, as a smiling Bison steps into view.
Sagat never speaks, and the fact that he doesn't appear in live-action obviously leaves room for an actor to step into the role in a potential sequel.
Will we see another Street Fighter movie? Opening weekend box office estimates have improved slightly, and we recently learned that the reboot's budget was significantly lower than previously reported (around $84 million). Reviews have not been kind (45% on Rotten Tomatoes), but the movie does boast a much higher audience score of 84%.
“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!”
The movie stars Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Orville Peck as Vega, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, and Alexander Volkanovski as Joe.