Walton Goggins Reportedly In Talks to Join Legendary’s Street Fighter as M. Bison

More casting news is percolating about Legendary’s upcoming Street Fighter movie. Walton Goggins (Justified) has been reported as in consideration for the ever-growing eclectic Street Fighter cast that will take on the Capcom video game’s newest big screen adaptation.

Legendary acquired the exclusive film and television rights to the IP in April 2023, with Danny and Michael Philippou attached to direct almost immediately afterwards. They have since been replaced by Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip), with no news about who is producing or writing. The film is to be co-produced and co-developed by both Legendary and Capcom, who develops and publishes the storied video game series.

Walter Goggins sits for an interview – YouTube, GQ

Studio representatives have declined to comment on previous casting rumors, such as those reported by Deadline that action movie veterans Andrew Koji (Bullet Train), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Noah Centineo (Black Adam), and the WWE’s Roman Reigns (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) are signed on. As of this writing they have not made public comment on this one.

The report comes from Jeff Sneider, of the independent newsletter The Insneider, who says that, if cast, Goggins will be playing the famous final boss and indomitable leader of Shadowloo, M. Bison. On his podcast, The Hot-Mic, Sneider talked about the surprise of this rumor given that Goggins “was having a moment and was flying pretty high right now.” Sneider also said, “I thought he might land something a little bit more prestigious, but at the same time, it’s also, maybe, time to get a nice movie paycheck.”

Walton Goggins (The Ghoul) in “Fallout” – Licensed, Amazon MGM Studios

Included with the headline grabbing rumor that Goggins may join the project they also discussed two other actors being eyed for roles. Eric André (The Eric Andre Show, which is the source of the famous Guy Shot Guy meme) who worked with director Kitao Sakurai on 2021’s Bad Trip (a mix of a scripted road trip, buddy comedy movie with unscripted hidden camera pranks) and musician Orville Peck who wears a mask in public and does not show his face.

Sneider speculated that André may play the ring announcer and Peck may play Vega. Again, Sneider says that this last part is his own speculation. Given that there is no known writer for the project there is no reason to know that there is a ring announcer character and if the South African Orville Peck were to be cast as the Spanish cage-fighter, Vega, it would be against the trend of race-swap casting in recent years.

M. Bison in Street Fighter VI – YouTube, GameSpot Trailers

Online reactions to the news have focused on Goggins, with feelings mixed between intrigue, excitement, and dismay. Despite his wiry build, Goggins is no stranger to playing intimidating roles.

In Justified he was the possibly unhinged but always Quixotic, Boyd Crowder and in Fallout he plays bounty hunter, The Ghoul. Fans, though have pointed out that, physically, the hulking mountain of muscle might be better portrayed by Alan Ritchson (Reacher) or John Cena (Fred: The Movie, Peacemaker).

In 1994‘s Street Fighter, Bison is played by Raul Julia, whose performance and scenery chewing have become legendary for ‘90’s kids. While his respectable height of 6’2” stood taller than Jean Claude Van Damme’s Colonel Guile at 5’10” (about the same height as Goggins), after years of battling stomach cancer, no one would have said Julia’s physiology was anything like his video game counterpart’s. In the same way Goggin’s casting could be about a charismatic performance over a match in physicality.

With a director known for comedy and a cast strewn with wrestlers, comedians, action stars, and character actors, could this movie be a recreation of the 1994 predecessor’s fever dream insanity?

Do you want to see Goggins in the new Street Fighter? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

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