Strongest Street Fighter Signature Moves Missing From The 2026 Movie

After decades of video game movies treating the source material like a loose suggestion, Kitao Sakurai’s 2026 Street Fighter movie actually gave fighting game fans what they actually wanted. It’s admittedly quite ironic that would happen in the same year Resident Evil came out and largely did the opposite, but those audiences are very separate, and the distinction matters.

Critics weren’t exactly bowled over, but word of mouth across social media from regular cinemagoers has been very positive, and Street Fighter’s early box office was a solid if not spectacular start. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 78%, a full 37% higher than the critics score is what really matters, and the chances of Street Fighter 2 happening will be dependent on that turning into more ticket sales and strong streaming performance when it lands on Paramount+.

The success with fans comes down to the excellent Street Fighter cast, and the commitment to making a faithful adaptation, with great fight sequences, and some of the gaming franchise’s most iconic special moves. The entire story is framed around the corrupting power of the Hadou, so Ryu and Ken’s fireball takes center stage, of course, but there are some other greats, like Zangief’s spinning Russian piledriver, Dhalsim’s elastic limbs, E Honda’s Hundred Hand Slap and Sumo Headbutt, and M. Bison’s Psycho Crusher.

But with Street Fighter’s ending and the Sagat-starring post-credits scene setting up a future, the filmmakers clearly wanted to keep some of the cast’s big moves for the sequel. Because some of the most famous and powerful Street Fighter special moves didn’t appear at all. Here’s the most notable.

9 Head Bite & (Real) Electric Thunder - Blanka

Blanka is, somewhat infamously, played by Jason Momoa as a surprisingly soft-hearted monster with terrifying powers. He’s a bit of a doofus (by design), but he looks great, and his powers are just as games-accurate, but there are a couple of big misses. There’s a general commitment to showing his electricity powers, of course, and he electrocutes several of M Bison’s prisoners in the fight sequence with Ryu.

But, despite one of those prisoners calling for Blanka to bite Ryu’s head, Blanka doesn’t roll out his iconic Head Bite, which involves him jumping on the victim’s shoulders and savagely biting their skull. That might, admittedly, have been difficult to sell as non-fatal.

He also doesn’t show off his most famous move, the crouching Electric Thunder that might well be one of the most annoying to face in Street Fighter’s early games. In a near-unbeatable defense (at least against physical attacks), he hunkers down, electrifies himself, and shocks anyone stupid enough to get close. He does shock a prisoner but he's standing up, and not electrified himself, so it's not a true Electric Thunder. Hopefully, we’ll see it if he comes back for the sequel.

8 Psycho Punisher - M.Bison

Obviously, David Dastmalchian’s M. Bison is not at his full potential in Street Fighter, and the ending sets up a major upgrade using Akuma’s powers, but he’s still a terrifying combatant when he gets involved. When Chun-Li’s infiltration of Shadaloo is uncovered, he shows off his most famous move, the Psycho Crusher attack, and almost kills her, but there’s another equally powerful move left out.

If we get to see the leveled-up M Bison in Street Fighter 2, with full Psycho Power, we will hopefully get to see one of his ultimate Super Combos from later games. For the Psycho Punisher, Bison grabs the opponent, lifts them up and channels Psycho Power through their body before slamming them into the ground. Saving some of his more powerful moves for the sequel does make sense, though.

7 Sonic Boom - Guile

Possibly the most frustrating missing move is Guile’s Sonic Boom. Cody Rhodes’ hilarious take on the character does pull off his iconic Flash Kick in the nightclub fight sequence, but he doesn’t get any other combat sequences (including his first-round defeat in the tournament to Vega), so there’s limited chance to see his most famous move.

Given the importance of the Hadouken lore in Street Fighter, it may be that the sound barrier-breaking move would have confused the importance of Hadou energy. He’ll be back in the sequel, of course, so there’s still a chance he’ll take his revenge on M. Bison using his legendary power.

6 Cyclone Lariat - Zangief

Oliver Ritcher’s giant Zangief does get to show off some of his bone-crushing grappling style moves in the movie, including a combo of his Spinning Piledriver, Suplex, and Siberian Blizzard. But his evolved Cyclone Lariat, which combines his simplified Double Lariat with a body slam (and a brief moment of emoting to the camera) wasn’t shown.

Zangief is completely absent from the tournament and weirdly disappears halfway through the movie after Ritchers made a splash, and if the sequel happens, we definitely need to see more of him. The giant actor is definitely up to pulling off more of the bruising moves.

5 Yoga Fire & Flame - Dhalsim

Dhalsim’s mystic powers originated in Street Fighter II, where his mysticism manifested both with rubbery limbs for ranged attacks and pyrokinetic powers. His Yoga Fire and Yoga Flame moves involve shooting either a fireball or a giant burst of flames from his mouth, neither of which are shown in the movie. Perhaps because he has to throw the fight with Ken, he didn’t roll out his big guns? He also doesn’t show off his teleporting powers from the games.

Dhalsim is one of the strongest adaptations of a Street Fighter character, and Vidyut Jammwal absolutely nails his superhuman movements and mysterious aura. He’ll also be back in the sequel, if it happens, so seeing the higher level of his powers could give the visual effects team a chance to really flex.

4 Tiger Uppercut - Sagat

Street Fighter actually shows a key part of the origin story for the Muay Thai King, when the anime flashbacks reveal Ryu gave him his familiar chest scar in the first World Fighting Tournament by hitting him with a Shoryuken. In game lore, Sagat learned his own variant of the uppercut as a response to Ryu defeating him in the 1987 Tournament and allowing his jealousy to consume him.

Whoever plays Sagat in the Street Fighter sequel will have to nail the “Tiger Uppercut” scream as a key part of the performance. It’s easily one of the most famous quotes from the franchise, as well as an iconic move that needs to be shown as part of his journey of revenge.

3 Scarlet Terror - Vega

The Spanish Ninja - played stylishly by fellow mask-wearer and country music star Orville Peck - first appeared as a deadly Shadaloo boss, and he plays the role of M Bison’s loyal sidekick in the movie too. He gets a couple of major fight sequences - once in the nightclub and then in the fight against Chun-Li with Juli - but his hyper-mobile fight style doesn’t include three of his most famous moves, no matter how good he looks jumping around.

His acrobatic moves, the Flying Barcelona Special, the Rolling Crystal Flash, and the Scarlet Terror are all notably missing. It may well be that he simply posed too many logistical issues at full speed, so the version we get in the movie is toned- and slowed down. Not seeing the Scarlet Terror is the biggest frustration for Vega fans, though.

2 Killer Bee Spin - Cammy

Cammy was one of the new additions in Super Street Fighter II, and Mel Jarnson’s version is a strong, sassy presence in the movie, largely playing a nefarious rival to Chun-Li. She’s one of M. Bison’s loyal inner circle, but not a combatant, and doesn’t get a chance to show off her fighting skills. Her one notable bit of violence sees her fire a rocket launcher in the closing moments to help Bison escape with Akuma’s body.

If we get to see her actually fight in the sequel, the most powerful move she needs to show off is The Killer Bee Spin, which sees her start in a flying kick, before spinning the target from an elevated handstand, and then locking them in a Mexican surfboard submission from WWE. It’s complex, but visually, it’s incredible, and seeing it on screen would be amazing.

1 Sip Of Calamity - Akuma

If Roman Reigns’ vastly powerful villain Akuma survives M Bison’s attempts to drain his power in the potential Street Fighter sequel, we’ll hopefully get to see the iconic bad guy throwing fists again. You’d think probably against Bison, given what he has planned for him (which could mean the biggest clash of powers possibly, if Dastmalchian’s villain levels up too).

Akuma was originally introduced as a secret boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and is the ultimate morality tale for Ryu’s potential corruption in the new movie. We do get to see his Raging Demon (Shun Goku Satsu) used in the movie, but an even more stylish killer move was introduced in Street Fighter 6, which debuted the Sip of Calamity. It’s a brutal finisher that shows him catch his opponent by the face, smash them into the ground, and then deliver a killing blow. It’s a more personal finisher than the Raging Demon, and would fit his potential battle with M Bison if it happens.

Street Fighter is in theaters globally now.

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