7 Best Missing Street Fighter Characters Who Need To Appear In The Sequel (Ranked By Power)

Published Oct 22, 2026, 1:25 PM EDT

Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
 

Legendary and Paramount’s new Street Fighter came as a surprise to some, but anyone who has been locked into the fandom since the beginning could see it was going to work from the first trailers. Perfectly balancing an irreverent tone with excellent fight choreography, great casting, and an obvious desire to be faithful to the games, it earned its strong Rotten Tomatoes audience score.

The box office performance of Street Fighter hasn’t been phenomenal, but it’s already passed its first milestone of $50m worldwide, and has already out-grossed Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1994 original adaptation. So there are certainly positives, and strong word of mouth could yet mean the second weekend takes that higher. It didn’t cost masses at almost $90m, but anything under $200m and the sequel that’s set up by Street Fighter’s post-credits scene may not emerge.

We already know thanks to Street Fighter’s ending that Sagat will appear in a potential sequel, but as with all sequels, the next question will be how Kitao Sakurai takes things even further. Escalation is always the name of the game, and in a franchise with so many characters, expanding the Street Fighter cast will almost certainly be a priority.

That means, along with Sagat, there’s an opportunity to see some more fan-favorite Street Fighter characters, so the question is who will make the cut? A word of warning here, too, though: Street Fighter’s cast was so broad that some characters felt a little underused, so it will be important to make sure the potential sequel avoids further over-stuffing and repeating that issue. That said, there are some truly great candidates…

7 Birdie

Hopefully, Hirooki Goto’s E. Honda returns in Street Fighter 2 after giving up his spot in the tournament to Ryu, but even if he does, we need some more big boy representation. That could be handled by Street Fighter V debutant Birdie, the cult icon British punk rocker who is a street brawler and relies on brute force over flashy magical powers to crack heads.

He’s never been in a live-action movie before, obviously, but he’s enough of a different character to shake up the existing cast dynamic. And his special attacks using his chain - primarily Murder Chain - would help rebalance the lack of weapon-wielding Street Fighter characters. Since Sagat is coming, bringing in another Shadaloo enforcer is a pretty easy addition too.

6 Dee Jay

Jamaica’s favorite kickboxing music star was actually part of the 1994 Street Fighter (played by Miguel A. Núñez Jr), but was reimagined as an antagonist in M. Bison’s employ. A former Microsoft employee, he became a tech expert and hacker for no apparently justifiable reason and led Bison’s technology department on a promise of vast wealth. In the games, he’s a hero, and a good-natured one at that, whose goal is developing more new music sounds and cementing his fame.

Introduced in Super Street Fighter II, he wasn’t a slam dunk with fans, but has grown in popularity and holds the distinction of being the first character introduced fully designed by an American. But more importantly, his status as a genuinely famous fighter would bring in an interesting dynamic with Ken Masters, who is famous, but in a not particularly positive way in the first movie. That and his penchant for music could make for some good comedy moments and he’s also a good fighter, quick and aggressive, and a different kind of fireball thrower to shake things up.

5 T. Hawk

Like Dee Jay, the seven-foot-tall Thunder Hawk debuted in Super Street Fighter II and also appeared as a mostly unrecognizable version of the original character in the 1994 movie. Instead of being a gigantic Mexican/Native American Hybrid (he was originally a Native American called Geronimo but that was changed to avoid racial insensitivity), he was Guile’s second-in-command and a Sergeant, played by Gregg Rainwater.

Another good guy, casting someone so large would inevitably be difficult, but if nothing else, having him return to live-action in a potential Street Fighter II would mean we could get a more faithful version of the character. He also has a deep personal grudge against Shadaloo, as M. Bison destroyed his homeland and killed some of his tribe. That makes him a strong candidate to join the fight against David Dastmalchian’s villain, and he has some great heavy-hitting special moves we could see on screen.

4 Sakura

Sakura Kasugano may not exactly look like she’d belong to the brutal world of the Street Fighter movie, but she’s a real fighting prodigy and one of the universe’s best martial artists. She’s also become one of the franchise’s most popular characters since her debut in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and has returned numerous times. If Legendary and Paramount are smart, they’ll recognize how much potential there is to ingratiate themselves with the cosplaying community who love coming out for Sakura too.

She’s an interesting one to bring in, because she trained by emulating Ryu, and as he potentially wrestles with further corruption in the sequel, having a fan who is so pure of heart would bring great narrative value. It would also be great to see another master of Ansatsuken techniques, including her running variation of the Hadouken. She’s a great audience surrogate too, and exploring Ryu’s legacy does feel like a smart next step.

3 Charlie

The only character included here who has already been set up by Street Fighter, Charlie Nash has close ties to Guile (Cody Rhodes), and he, quite frankly, needs a more significant role in the sequel, if it happens. Rhodes’ sassy version of the military man actually mentioned Charlie’s name at one point, meaning we could be headed for his debut in the sequel.

That mention actually mirrors how Charlie was introduced in the games: he was first mentioned as part of Guile’s backstory and then made his playable debut in Street Fighter Alpha, bringing more military might to the games. His power levels as an augmented warrior are actually higher than Guile’s, and he can throw one-handed Sonic Booms. If we get Charlie in the sequel, director Sakurai will have absolutely no excuse to leave Guile’s most iconic move out for a second time, plus his inclusion could explain Guile’s personal crusade against Shadaloo, whether he appears in flashback or even as a brainwashed enemy for Guile.

2 Seth

With Sagat appearing in Street Fighter’s post-credits scene, it would make sense that M. Bison may be expanding his army now that he knows Ryu, Ken, Guile, Dan, and Dhalsim are on his tail, as well as Chun Li, presumably. And that means also bringing in the chief executive officer of Shadaloo’s weapons division, and one of the most annoying villains to fight in the Street Fighter franchise.

Serving as the main antagonist of Street Fighter IV before returning with a completely new design in Street Fighter V, Seth is an android made to be able to absorb and master the fighting style of every warrior. Like I said, annoying, which is a little bit of an understatement when you’re really talking about near-god-like physical prowess. And there’s something delightfully theatrical about an enemy who would reflect all the heroes’ powers back at them to test their adaptability.

1 Gen

With Master Gouken out of the picture after Akuma (Roman Reigns) tore his heart out in the first movie, Street Fighter has an opening for a wise old martial arts expert. And you don’t get much better of a fit for that role than Gen, who debuted in the original 1987 Street Fighter as a non-playable character. He’s also one of the most dangerous fighters in the entire franchise lore, operating on a power level well above other conventional combatants.

He’s also, crucially, one of the few mortals to have survived a direct confrontation with Akuma, which makes him extremely narratively valuable if the sequel continues Akuma’s importance. It appears M. Bison will channel Akuma’s powers (and perhaps kill him in the process), so having someone with the knowledge of how to withstand his attacks will be crucial for Ryu and the heroic alliance. He’s also Chun-Li’s mentor, so has an easy in for the plot.

Street Fighter is in cinemas globally now.

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