Round one, fight!
It seems like there’s a face-off brewing between next year’s “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat 2″ movies, live-action adaptations of two of the most popular and long-running fighting game franchises. “Street Fighter” star and provocative comedian Andrew Schulz threw the first punch in the video game beef Thursday night when his movie’s cast came out on stage to debut their first trailer at the Game Awards.
Schulz plays Dan Hibiki, a jokey, annoying character in the “Street Fighter” games who’s overconfident and underpowered. He walked out on the Game Awards stage with his co-stars Noah Centineo (Ken), Andrew Koji (Ryu), Callina Liang (Chun-Li), Jason Momoa (Blanka), Roman Reigns (Akuma), David Dastmalchian (M. Bison), Cody Rhodes (Guile), Vidyut Jammwal (Dhalsim), Orville Peck (Vega), Olivier Richters (Zangief), Rayna Vallandingham (Juli) and Mel Jarnson (Cammy).
As his co-stars talked about their love of “Street Fighter” and teased their fight scenes, Schulz took the mic from Dastmalchian and joked that the “Mortal Kombat 2” cast didn’t fly out to the Game Awards because “they only care about money” and not the fans — while the “Street Fighter” stars care about money and the gamers.
“Guys, it’s so important that we appreciate you all here for being great patrons of ‘Street Fighter.’ If you played the game in your life, make some noise,” Schulz said to large applause from the crowd. “This movie is not possible without you guys. 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’!”
The crowd gave another round of applause, while Centineo and Momoa hyped up the fans, only for Schulz to reveal he was joking and the “Mortal Kombat” cast wasn’t there.
“I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. They don’t care about you. They only care about money,” he said, as the crowd groaned. “We care about money and you. ‘Street Fighter’ forever!”
“Schulz cannot be trusted,” Liang laughed. “He’s joking.” Koji and Centineo proceeded to announce the best ongoing game category, revealing the winner to be “No Many’s Sky” with the entire cast.
The moment played as a joke, but it may have ruffled the feathers of “Mortal Kombat” producer Todd Garner, who worked on the original 2021 movie and its 2026 sequel. Replying to a video of Schulz, Garner wrote “I don’t climb over others to get ahead” on X.
I don’t climb over others to get ahead.
— Todd Garner (@Todd_Garner) December 12, 2025
Garner added in another post, “I hope both are huge,” referring to “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat 2.” He replied to a fan, who said “the hype for MK2 is no where near ‘Street Fighter,’” that “it will be.”
Warner Bros.’ “Mortal Kombat 2” was originally set to release on Oct. 24, but then was delayed to May 8, 2026. The cast is equally packed with fan-favorite characters, including Karl Urban (Johnny Cage), Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Tati Gabrielle (Jade), Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion), Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Damon Herriman (Quan-Chi), Chin Han (Shang Tsung) and Tadanobu Asono (Raiden). Paramount’s “Street Fighter” hits theaters on Oct. 16, 2026, so the two movies won’t duke it out directly at the box office, but gamers will likely choose their favorites of the two beat-’em-up games.
