Street Fighter is one of the biggest and best fighting video game franchises there is. It’s so beloved that it’s been adapted to film and television several times. Some have received cult followings over the years while audiences have been trying to forget about others. Either way, none of the previous adaptations have hit major success when it comes to the critics or the box office.

There’s a new Street Fighter movie hitting the big screen in 2026, and a teaser trailer has been released to give fans a small taste of the intense fights we can expect to see. The reception of this teaser trailer has been surprisingly mixed. Check out the trailer in question.:

Street Fighter | Game Awards Sneak Peek (2026 Movie)

This first look at the upcoming movie has a lot of people poking fun at it and laughing at it. They’re criticizing the overall look and approach, calling it cheesy and saying that it all looks cheaply put together. Some social media comments have joked that it looks like the characters are wearing Halloween costumes and that it looks too cringy to watch in full.

These naysayers seem to be completely missing the point. There have been past Street Fighter adaptations that have been overly dark and serious, like 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. It was a dark and edgy film that completely missed the point of the video games. It may not have been a great movie altogether, but it seems like these folks would prefer a movie in that style with that aesthetic if it were made better.

The issue with going that route, though, is that it doesn’t really match the games. The Street Fighter video game series isn’t overly dark and edgy. It’s not very serious. It’s bright, colorful, and rather campy. This new movie clearly wants to capture that.

Looking at everything in this teaser trailer, it does look campy and cheesy, but that’s the whole point. They’re fully embracing the silliness of the source material. Guile’s hair is just plain ridiculous in the games. To properly adapt it, his hair should be equally ridiculous in the film. The same goes for the other over-the-top costumes and hairstyles. Everything looks so colorful and vibrant and a bit in your face. It actually matches the games.

If anything, they should lean into the video games’ campiness as hard as possible. Long-time fans of the source material will love seeing the colorful elements brought to life, and movie-goers will love having a campy action flick to see on the big screen.

This new Street Fighter, so far at least, is looking like an absolute riot. It’ll likely be a blast to see with a crowd in a movie theater.

Street Fighter is set to release in October of 2026, sending Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, and the rest to the big screen.

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