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Austin Manchester is a writer and editor living in New York City. At Polygon, he covers gaming and entertainment news, reviews new video games, interviews behind-the-scenes talent, and more. He enjoys discovering hidden gems and sharing them with Polygon's audience. Previously, he was the gaming editor for AIPT Comics and has written for other outlets like XDA, How-To Geek, and The List.
He enjoys soulslikes, character-driven RPGs, and third-person shooters plucked straight out of the Xbox 360 era. He also likes to flex his non-video game nerdy knowledge sometimes, whether that's explaining who's who in the new Wolverine game or recommending a comic book series about a sentient sword.
Hard to disagree with Chun Li
Street Fighter was released in theaters this October, and, unlike Capcom's other video game movie released this year, Resident Evil, it was not a bona fide hit. Street Fighter is messy and, at times, incoherent. However, it is a good time at the movies if all you want to see is beautiful people smack each other around while '90s hits play.
One pain point of Street Fighter is its abrupt ending, and one of the movie's stars has weighed in, admitting she's "a little bit" disappointed with how the film concludes.
[Ed note: Spoilers for Street Fighter follow.]
Chun-Li actor Callina Liang is disappointed M. Bison gets away
In Street Fighter, M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) throws a sham tournament to lure renowned fighter Ryu (Andrew Koji) out of hiding so he can steal Ryu's power. Chun-Li, played by Presence star Callina Liang, has infiltrated M. Bison's operation both to thwart his plans and to get her revenge on him for killing her father.
M. Bison defeats Chun-Li (and drops the iconic "Tuesday" line from the 1994 movie) before ultimately getting away at the end of the film, leaving Chun-Li's revenge unfulfilled and the antagonist undefeated. It's a jarring ending, and Liang didn't shy away from her true feelings about it when talking to The Hollywood Reporter.
When asked if she was disappointed Chun-Li didn't get her revenge, she answered, "Oh, man. Honestly, a little bit." Liang is hopeful that if the film were to get a sequel, Chun-Li could take down M. Bison. "I’m sure it’d be epic," she said.
Street Fighter (2026) Image: Paramount Pictures, Capcom, Legendary
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Street Fighter (2026) Image: Paramount Pictures, Capcom, Legendary
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
Image: Paramount
She's interested in exploring who Chun-Li will be after her hunger for revenge is satiated. Chun-Li has a couple opportunities to attack M. Bison in Street Fighter, but doesn't, like after she gets branded. According to Liang, "she probably didn’t want her mission to end just yet. She was probably afraid to confront what would come for her, mentally, once it was all over. So I 100 percent don’t know how she’d feel after finally accomplishing Bison’s death."
Speaking of that branding scene, originally it was supposed to be even more gory. "Chun-Li was originally supposed to chop off a finger, but Capcom… They went back and forth with the script, and eventually they decided that hand-branding was the better way to do it." They also avoided having to digitally remove Liang's finger in future installments, if a sequel ever fully materializes.
Street Fighter is in theaters now.