The character of M. Bison, from Street Fighter, has a weird history. In the original game in Japan, this final boss is called Vega. In the US version of the game, they decided the name was not threatening enough so they gave it to the Spanish cage fighter character.
The final boss was then named Balrog. However. elsewhere in the game, there was an African American boxer called Mike Bison, a thinly veiled play on Mike Tyson. Fearing some legal issues, Capcom switched the names around. The boxer became Balrog, and the final boss, inexplicably, became M. Bison.
Those crazy Japanese!
On film, he was played most memorably by Raúl Juliá, who gave a scenery-chewing, barnstorming performance that was far better than the film around him. That 1994 Street Fighter movie adaptation, with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, and Ming-Na Wen, somehow remains the high point of the movie adaptations.
Now, The Insneider is reporting that the new production is in talks with Fallout and The White Lotus star Walton Goggins to play the role of lead villain.
Elsewhere, country musician Orville Peck is in line to play Vega, and comedian Eric Andre is to re-team with his The Eric Andre Show director Kitao Sakurai for the film.
Other recent rumors include Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken, Jason Momoa as Blanka, and Roman Reigns as Akuma.
Capcom is reportedly heavily involved in this new Street Fighter project. No other details are known, including storyline or release dates.
