Jason Momoa's Blanka Barely Shows in Street Fighter Trailer

You'd think the guy fresh off a billion-dollar Minecraft movie would get more than half a second of screen time. The new Street Fighter trailer dropped yesterday, running through fight sequences, character reveals, and plenty of '90s camp, but Jason Momoa's Blanka is practically invisible. He shows up near the tail end of the trailer in a single shot, obscured by dust and motion blur, and that's it.

Everyone else gets a proper introduction. Andrew Koji's Ryu broods. Noah Centineo's Ken does mournful karaoke and then kicks the hood off a car like it's the Street Fighter II bonus stage. Callina Liang's Chun-Li recruits them both for the 1993 World Warrior Tournament. David Dastmalchian's M. Bison lurks in the background looking like an inspired casting choice. Even Zangief gets a clear shot suplexing someone through a taxi. Momoa, arguably the biggest commercial draw in the entire cast, is reduced to a silhouette. I find it hard to believe that's accidental. Legendary and Paramount are clearly holding Blanka back for a reason, whether that's a full creature reveal in a second trailer or a deliberate attempt to keep the film's weirdest visual under wraps until closer to the October 16 release.

The rest of the trailer leans hard into its source material in a way that feels self-aware without being embarrassing. Set in 1993, the plot follows estranged rivals Ryu and Ken getting pulled back into a tournament with a conspiracy behind it, M. Bison and Shadaloo presumably pulling the strings. It's giving '90s fighting tournament movie, and I mean that as a compliment. The fight choreography looks solid, the tone knows exactly what it is, and the cast is stacked. Director Kitao Sakurai seems to understand that a Street Fighter movie lives or dies on whether the fights look cool first and whether the plot makes sense second. Getting a Street Fighter and a Mortal Kombat film in the same year is the kind of 2026 I didn't expect but absolutely want. Still, hiding your biggest star behind a dust cloud that only pays off if the eventual Blanka reveal is worth the wait.