'Street Fighter' TV Series Confirmed; Will It Be a Direct Sequel to 'Assassin's Fist'?

By Janna Dela Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Monday, March 26, 2018

Ryu and company are taking the action to television, with a live-action series based on Capcom's long-running fighting game franchise "Street Fighter" officially in the works.

According to Deadline, the TV adaptation will kick off with the events in "Street Fighter II: The World Warrior," the 1991 sequel to the very first installment in the franchise.

The new "Street Fighter" series will follow Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Chun-Li as they work together to put a stop to the heinous schemes of M. Bison, the evil mastermind behind the global criminal organization Shadaloo.

The live-action series will follow these four heroes as their individual journeys bring them together at one destination, which is the World Warrior Tournament, a competition conducted by M. Bison to find the most powerful fighter in the world.

The group of four must "draw on their strength, skills, intelligence and loyalty in a battle to survive and emerge as the World Warrior," the logline for the new "Street Fighter" series teases.

Entertainment One will develop, produce, and finance the project as well as handle the international sales. Joey Ansah, Jacqueline Quella, and Mark Wooding, the people behind successful live-action web series "Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist," will serve as executive producers.

For the uninitiated, "Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist" premiered in 2014 to critical acclaim. All 12 episodes of the show were written and directed by Ansah while Wooding and Quella produced them.

The web series generated 16 million viewers and is often hailed as the best and most faithful adaptation to the franchise yet. Capcom immediately announced a sequel centered on "World Warrior," but the massive success of the first one appears to have led to a full-on TV series project altogether.

The web series centered only on Ryu and Ken, though. Whether the actors who played them (Mike Moh and Christian Howard, respectively) will be brought back for the new "Street Fighter" live-action series remains to be seen.

In an official statement picked up by Deadline, Entertainment One President and Chief Content Officer for film, television and digital Mark Gordon gushed about the "immense worldwide commercial success," the "vast devoted fanbase" and "30 year legacy" of "Street Fighter."

Gordon went on to say that he is "thrilled" to work with the web series trio for this brand new take on the "global tour de force franchise," which will serve as the company's first major TV project since he became the president and CCO.

"A particular strength of 'Street Fighter' is the wide range of ethnically diverse characters and powerful women featured in the game. It will allow us to build an inclusive and engaging TV universe," he continued.

Debuting as an arcade game in 1987, "Street Fighter" has been around for decades and is credited with shaping the one-on-one fighting game genre as fans know it today.

It continues to influence and inform new fighting games and is still remains Capcom's best-selling franchise with the latest installment "Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition" recently released on the PlayStation 4 and PC.