The Street Fighter games have had a rocky relationship with live-action adaptations. They’ve had a really terrible one with Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and a “so bad that it’s good” version in 1994. Strangely enough, the only real good live-action version is Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, a movie that was developed by fans. Sorry, I’m not counting Street Fighter: Resurrection at that was just a promo movie for Street Fighter V and RackaRacka‘s Real Life Street Fighter since it was a parody.

Speaking of RackaRacka, they were supposed to be the people behind the upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie before they had to drop out because they’re now too busy. Even with the duo dropping out, production for this film is in full swing and they even just released the full cast and, man, is it a doozy!

Let’s be kind and just say there are some really interesting picks regarding who’s playing who here. But I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now as we still don’t know anything about the movie. What I can do, however, is give my initial impressions on the cast as I do think there were some good and some no-so good casting choices here. So, let me go through my three best and worst casting decisions for the upcoming Street Fighter movie.

Side note before we do go through the list. There are some actors who were cast that I’m not familiar with so I can’t really attest to how well they fit to their roles. So this will be just a list on the ones I’ve seen actually in other movies and television shows.

Best #3: Rayna Vallandingham as Juli

A part of me is just glad Rayna Vallandingham is in a live-action Street Fighter movie. You’ve probably seen her before as Zara Malik, the main female antagonist from the sixth season of Cobra Kai. As she is a genuinely trained martial arts and a fairly good actress, I can safely say she’ll do really well as she can actually do some of the special moves Juli actually does in the games without any wire work!

The only reason why she isn’t placing higher is because of who she’s playing. Juli is tightly connected to another Street Fighter character, T. Hawk. The thing is, T. Hawk isn’t going to be appearing in the movie! I’m assuming the movie will be more focused on when she (and probably Cammy) are still part of Shadaloo‘s Dolls program. And, besides Cammy and Decapre, Juni is probably the most prominent of the Dolls. Still, that means she could’ve played any of the other Dolls like Juni or Noembelu and it wouldn’t really make that much of a difference.

Worst #3: Cody Rhodes as Guile

On paper, it does look like Cody Rhodes is a good fit for the All-American William F. Guile. He’s blonde and from the United States. He’s also pretty athletic so, while he might not be able to do the more crazy things like Guile’s Flash Kick or his Reverse Spin Kick without special effects and CGI, he should do fairly well with the fight scenes.

My only real issue is, while he is a pretty buff dude, I just don’t think he’s buff enough to play Guile. Sure, Guile isn’t the biggest guy in Street Fighter’s roster. But he does come off as much more muscular than either Ryu and Ken, the main characters of the games. Heck, I would’ve been fine if they got Kenny Omega, another pro wrestler, to play Guile!

Best #2: Olivier Richters as Zangief

This is actually the guy who made me decide to do this list. Also known as the Dutch Giant, Oliver Richter’s most prominent role of note would have to be in the third season of Reacher where he plays Paulie, the mountain of a man who makes even a man of Jack Reacher’s size look like a puny human.

Olivier Richter definitely has the size to play Zangief, the Russian pro wrestler who loves slamming people in to the ground headfirst with his spinning piledriver. This is one case where, in all honesty, there wasn’t really a better option. I mean, not only is he a hulk, he already has the appropriate beard to play Zangief. Still, I wouldn’t want to be the guy to ask him to shave his hair into a mohawk!

Worst #2: Andrew Shultz as Dan Hibiki

Look, I know Dan Hibiki is supposed to be a joke character, even though I contend he can still beat you up. I also think Andrew Shultz can be a pretty funny stand-up comedian. I don’t even have a problem how Dan is supposed to Japanese and Andrew Shultz is decidedly not. But I do have to ask: do you really need a stand-up comedian to play a joke character? I don’t think so.

That’s not even my biggest issue with him playing Dan. The problem I have is I’m not sure he can be earnest in his performance. Say what you will about Dan: he’s overconfident, dumb and lack business-sense. But there is a kind of endearing naivety to him and I’m not sure if Andrew Shultz can pull that off.

Best #1: David Dastmalchian as M. Bison

While I’ve mostly been obsessed with how well the actors looks like the character they’re going to portray so far, there’s always going to be an exception. David Dastmalchian isn’t the biggest guy nor is he a really muscular guy. He’s not even a martial artist, as far as I know. Still, there’s something about putting him in the role of M. Bison, the biggest and baddest guy in the world of Street Fighter, that just seems so right!

There’s just something about the man that makes me feel like he can play M. Bison and play him well. He has the acting chops to make the character seem sinister and menacing. He just has the stature that seems like he can pull it off and I can’t put my finger on why. Call it an “it” factor or whatever but I think he’s going to kill it as M. Bison.

Worst #1: Orville Peck as Vega

It may seem odd that I’m putting Orville Peck, a man who’s more known for country music that acting (because he doesn’t have any real movie or TV roles), on this list. I’m not familiar with his music nor any of his stage acting work so he technically shouldn’t be included on this list. However, based on my research on the guy, I had to make him an exception because, if it’s true I just feel the reason why he was cast as Vega is incredibly dumb.

Orville Peck is a country music artist who is known for wearing a mask to all his performances. Well, the producers of the live-action Street Fighter saw that and must’ve thought, “Hey, Vega wears a mask! He should be perfect for the role!”

No. Just because he wears a mask like Vega doesn’t mean he should play Vega!

For one, Vega wears a protective mask to protect his beautiful face from any damage, not to hide his face. Second, Vega actually takes off his mask and one of the gimmicks is the mask can get knocked off! So, is Orville Peck going to allow his mask to get ripped off in the film? I don’t think that fits the enigma he’s trying to build. Also, Vega has a more gymnast-like body and Orville Peck is too big of a dude. Finally, Vega is supposed to be ultra handsome. No offense to Orville Peck or his fans, but I’ve seen what he looks like without the mask and I don’t think he’s as gorgeous of a man.

Who do you think are the best and worst cast members of the upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie? Let me know in the comments section below!