Two upcoming video game adaptations on the 2026 movies schedule are catering to the same kind of crowd, and yet there’s quite the divide among this group of moviegoers. First, Mortal Kombat II hits theaters in May, and then the Street Fighter reboot comes out in October. There’s always been a rivalry between the fans of these respective fighting game franchise, and now one of the Mortal Kombat II stars has playfully hit back against one of the Street Fighter actors who threw some shade at the sequel not too long ago.
You may recall that the first Street Fighter trailer was presented at the Game Awards last December by some of the cast members, including Andrew Schulz, who’s playing Dan Hibiki. During the presentation, Schulz joked that the Mortal Kombat II cast didn’t come to the ceremony because “they don’t care” about the fans and “only care about money.” Lewis Tan, who plays Cole Young in the new Mortal Kombat movies, addressed this while speaking with Brandon Davis, saying the following when the interviewer brought the joke up:
Andrew Schulz is the last person that should be talking shit on that stage, you know what I’m saying? Obviously, not a fighter, not even really an actor. Well, yeah, we heard it.
Man, Lewis Tan did not hold back! Yes, unlike Andrew Schulz, he is actually a trained fighter, although the actor comment does come off more as of a roast since Schulz has acted in other projects. Regardless, this is all in good fun, as Tan went on to say how he’s friends with some of the Mortal Kombat II cast members:
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I got a lot of friends on that cast, even Rayna [Vallandingham], who’s in there, an incredible martial artist. We did Cobra Kai together…. Andrew Koji, who’s very good friends with Joe Taslim and myself, [he’s] also a great martial artist.
The Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises launched around the same time, i.e. the late ‘80s-early ‘90s, so that’s over three decades of their fans arguing amongst themselves about which games are better, just like Marvel and DC fans do with the comics. So while Lewis Tan isn’t necessarily a fan of what Andrew Schulz said, he doesn’t welcome 2026 bringing a friendly showdown of sorts between Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter on the big screen. As he put it:
I mean, yeah, let’s go, bro! …. I think it’s funny, and I also think people have been posting Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat this year, and I love it man, I love a good rivalry. So let’s go, baby!
If the studios really wanted to rile these fanbases up, they would have scheduled Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter to come out on the same day. That’d be an opening weekend showdown akin to what we’re getting with Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three this December, though perhaps not as memeable as 2023’s Barbenheimer. Alas, it was not to be, but Lewis Tan looks forward to seeing how both movies do during their respective theatrical runs, adding:
I saw the trailer. The trailer looked awesome, and I liked the tone that they’re bringing to it. We’ll see what’s up. Numbers don’t lie. Mortal Kombat fans, don’t play around with them. Street Fighter’s dope, I played that game, too. But Mortal Kombat fans, don’t mess about.
Lewis Tan is joined in Mortal Kombat II by Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica Mcnamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks and Tati Gabrielle, among others. Andrew Schulz’s Street Fighter castmates include Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, Callina Liang, Cody Rhodes and David Dastmalchian. Show your love for one or both of these movies when Mortal Kombat II releases on May 8, followed by Street Fighter on October 16.
