The upcoming Street Fighter film retains discovering methods to dig additional into Capcom’s combating recreation historical past, and its newest footage has revealed a personality longtime followers will certainly acknowledge.
A brand new behind-the-scenes featurette specializing in Noah Centineo’s Ken and Andrew Koji’s Ryu features a transient have a look at Gouken, the legendary martial arts grasp who skilled each fighters. It’s a fast look, however his inclusion provides one other essential piece of Road Fighter historical past to the live-action film.
Whether or not Gouken really will get a lot display time stays unclear. The footage might be exhibiting the extent of his function, notably if the film is exploring Ryu and Ken’s shared previous by way of flashbacks. There’s additionally loads of room for the filmmakers to carry him again in a bigger capability later.
Gouken has an attention-grabbing historical past inside the franchise. Ryu and Ken’s grasp was referenced in the course of the earlier period of the video games, however he wasn’t initially given a reputation. Gouken made his first correct look within the Road Fighter II manga moderately than the video games, and it took years earlier than Capcom totally introduced him into the playable roster.
That lastly occurred with Road Fighter IV in 2008, which gave gamers the possibility to battle as Gouken and expanded his place inside the mythology.
His inclusion turns into much more attention-grabbing due to his connection to a different fighter already confirmed for the film. Gouken is the older brother of Akuma, who will probably be performed by WWE Celebrity Roman Reigns.
We nonetheless don’t understand how closely Akuma components into the story, however having each brothers represented provides the filmmakers some cool materials to discover past the primary film. Anybody acquainted with their historical past is aware of there’s loads of battle there that might gas a future installment.
The brand new footage additionally reinforces simply how a lot director Kitao Sakurai and his staff look like pulling from the video games. Road Fighter recreation director Takayuki Nakayama beforehand praised the manufacturing and Sakurai’s method, saying:
“The director and everybody else concerned within the manufacturing all love Road Fighter and are followers similar to us, which provides me nice consolation,” Road Fighter recreation director Takayuki Nakayama beforehand mentioned. “I believe they’ve managed to perform one thing very troublesome in a extremely good method. That is the Road Fighter I do know.”
That’s encouraging to listen to, particularly contemplating the rocky historical past of Road Fighter in live-action. This film has an enormous assortment of characters to juggle, and bringing somebody like Gouken into the combo proves Sakurai and his staff aren’t limiting themselves to the franchise’s most recognizable faces.
The true query now could be how a lot Gouken we’ll really get. He might merely be a part of Ryu and Ken’s backstory, or his transient introduction might depart the door open for a a lot greater function alongside Akuma down the street.
Road Fighter hits theaters October 16, 2026.