Hardcore fans of the Street Fighter video game series knows that it does, in fact, have a plot, right down to explaining who the two guys in the opening are. That plot did not translate well to the screen in the 1994 film version, even if Raul Julia’s last role saw him give us a near endless bounty of GIFs and plummy line readings. But, a decade after the inexplicable Chris Klein version, Street Fighter is returning to live-action, this time on the small screen.
Produced by the team behind the quite-good fan series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, the series will follow Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile as they chase down the mysterious crime cartel Shadaloo across the world thanks to, inexplicably, Shadaloo running a bare-knuckle MMA tournament despite having lots of other far more profitable criminal enterprises to get up to. Each character will get their own arc before they unite to take down the biggest villain in the series, M. Bison, and also likely run into the entire classic cast along the way. And maybe along the way rehabilitate a few stereotypes, like the fact Dhalsim was inspired by one of the most cringey racist moments in Hong Kong cinema.
Joking aside, it’ll be interesting to see how the franchise, which has stuck by its campy, colorful early-’90s inspired world, translates to the big screen. But if they’re really committed, they’ll put this show on the air every Tuesday, and use the classic theme we all know and love.
(via Deadline)