Forget the arcades or movie theaters: It’s the stars of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter who are ready to fight it out for real!
For over 30 years, the fighting game genre has been dominated by two franchises: Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. In the 1990s, it was impossible to go to an arcade and not see multiple machines for each of these fighting franchises, challenging gamers to keep pumping in quarters. Street Fighter had cartoonish antics, while Mortal Kombat boasted famously bloody fatalities.
Each franchise was a cultural phenomenon with comic books, cartoons, and movie adaptations. Now, they’re both making comebacks on the silver screen. May 8 marks the release of Mortal Kombat II, the sequel to the 2021 revival of the series. Meanwhile, October 16 will see the release of Street Fighter, directed by Kitao Sakurai. Unlike the infamously poor 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme film (which was more like a GI Joe movie), this will follow the games' signature fighting tournament.
The rise of new Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies has revived the old rivalry between the fandoms, and now the actors involved are getting into it!
Who hit first in the Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter rivalry?
It all started at the 2026 Game Awards, when the Street Fighter cast was introduced to the crowd. That includes WWE champion Cody Rhodes as Guile, fellow WWE star Roman Reigns as Akuma, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, and Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki.
Comedian and podcaster Andrew Schulz is also part of the cast, as the comedic fighter Dan Hibiki. While promoting the film at the Game Awards, Schulz threw some shade at the cast of Mortal Kombat. "This movie is not possible without you guys," he told the audience. "We are so grateful. And we're not the only game that appreciates your patronage. There's another game out there. They also flew from around the world to be here because they appreciate you. So give it up for the whole cast of Mortal Kombat 2!"
After an awkward pause where no one came out, Schulz quickly continued, “I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. They don't care about you. They only care about money. We care about money and you. Street Fighter forever!"
Well, you can bet the Mortal Kombat team didn’t take that lying down. Lewis Tan, who plays Cole Young in both Mortal Kombat films, hit back in an interview with Game Fragger.
"When you watch the fights, and you watch even the drama in the second one, it's so Mortal Kombat, it's so tuned in," he said. "Probably the best fight film of the year, I'd say. Well, there's one other contender. Andrew Schulz is the last person that should be talking s— on that stage. Obviously not a fighter, not even really an actor. We heard it."
The MK2 cast is led by Karl Urban as fan favorite Johnny Cage, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, and more. Despite the shade, Tan championed several of the Street Fighter stars. "I got a lot of friends on that cast. Rayna [Vallandingham], incredible martial artist, we did Cobra Kai together. She's in Street Fighter. Andrew Koji, who's very good friends with Joe Taslim [Sub-Zero] and myself, also great martial artist."
He also pushed Schulz to compare the fandoms with how the latest Mortal Kombat 2 trailer has racked up over 23 million views in two weeks, while the first Street Fighter teaser only has just over three million views in two months. "I mean, yeah. Let's go, bro. I love a good rivalry, so let's go. The trailer looked awesome. We'll see what's up. Numbers don't lie," Tan joked.
It’s likely this is just to drum up publicity for both movies, but it’s also a good showcase for how Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter have two very passionate fanbases ready to make this a real fight at the box office!
Mortal Kombat II premieres in theaters on May 8. Street Fighter premieres in theaters on October 16.