Jason Momoa Is Joining a $14 Billion Action Franchise Three Months After DC's Supergirl Flop

Jason Momoa’s return to DC did not go the way anyone at the studio hoped, but the actor is jumping to a 39-year-old iconic action franchise, putting Supergirl's failure behind him. Momoa played Lobo, the cigar-chomping alien bounty hunter, in DC Studios’ second theatrical release, a dream role he publicly campaigned for over more than a decade. Critics mostly enjoyed his performance, though they found the movie itself underwhelming.

Momoa’s next fight happens far from the DCU. He stars as Blanka, the feral green brawler who channels electricity through his body, in Street Fighter, the live-action reboot of Capcom’s fighting game series that first hit arcades 39 years ago in 1987 and has since grossed over $14 billion in merchandise, games, and media. Paramount and Legendary will release the film in theaters on October 16, and its first full trailer earned the kind of excited response Supergirl wasn’t fortunate enough to enjoy. 

Supergirl opened on June 26 to $37.1 million domestically, a softer start than The Flash and The Marvels, two of the most notorious superhero flops of the past few years. Reviews left the movie with a 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a B- CinemaScore. Early industry projections put the potential loss for Warner Bros. at over $100 million.

Street Fighter seems like a far more exciting movie given what has been revealed about it so far. Director Kitao Sakurai set the story in 1993, when Street Fighter II dominated arcades, and it follows estranged martial artists Ryu and Ken Masters after the mysterious Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. Behind the competition, the villainous M. Bison pulls the strings.

A teaser debuted at The Game Awards in December before the full trailer arrived at CinemaCon in April and online, where fans raved about it. That reaction, along with everything shown so far, points to a few clear reasons why Street Fighter appears headed for a much better reception than Momoa’s DC outing.

Why Street Fighter Looks Set For A Better Reception Than Supergirl

The Movie Refuses To Take Itself Too Seriously

Sakurai cut his teeth on The Eric Andre Show and Bad Trip, and his Street Fighter trailer feels like a loving arcade throwback rather than a moody martial arts drama. The soundtrack pairs 2Pac’s Ambitionz Az a Ridah with 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up? while neon-soaked tournament sequences and frantic camerawork keep the energy closer to a Saturday at the arcade than a brooding blockbuster. Crucially, every actor plays the absurdity dead straight. That commitment is what separates a fun romp from an embarrassing one, and it comes through in nearly every shot in the trailer.

Supergirl aimed for something more earnest, which unfortunately didn’t work. Critics widely agreed that Milly Alcock delivered a brilliant lead performance. However, the story itself, which included sex trafficking, violence, and other serious themes, deterred families from going to see it. A movie that includes a green electric wild man doesn’t come with that kind of baggage, and many parents will gladly take their kids to the theaters to watch it. Street Fighter only needs to be fun, and the trailer suggests everyone involved understands that.

A Massive Cast Gives Every Viewer Someone To Root For

Momoa’s Blanka shares the screen with one of the strangest and most entertaining ensembles in recent memory. Andrew Koji plays Ryu, Noah Centineo plays Ken, and Callina Liang plays Chun-Li, while David Dastmalchian glowers as M. Bison. WWE stars Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns appear as Guile and Akuma, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson steps into the ring as Balrog, and country singer Orville Peck transforms into the masked Vega. The roster keeps going with Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski as Joe, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, Kyle Mooney as Marvin, and Mel Jarnson as Cammy.

This lineup is thoroughly entertaining and a real commercial weapon. Wrestling fans will buy a ticket for Rhodes and Reigns, hip-hop fans will show up for Jackson, and martial arts devotees already follow Koji and Jammwal. Each viewer walks in with a favorite fighter, the same way arcade players once did at the character select screen. Supergirl depended almost entirely on Milly Alcock’s shoulders, with Momoa in support, so its appeal narrowed to fans of one hero. Street Fighter offers more than a dozen characters to get attached to.

Street Fighter Honors The Source Material

Faithfulness to the source material is one thing this movie is taking very seriously. Ken wears his iconic red gi, Cammy White also rocks her famous blue Killer Bee outfit, and Guile keeps his flat-top haircut, with costumes across the board mirroring the original character sprites. In the trailer, we also see Ryu charge up a Hadouken, and Chun-Li use her popular Spinning Bird Kick.

The biggest evidence of faithfulness to the source material is when Ken demolishes a sedan in the trailer. This is a recreation of the famous car-smashing bonus stage from Street Fighter II, complete with a countdown timer ticking in the corner of the footage. The 1993 setting works in the film’s favor too, freeing the story from decades of game continuity while tapping directly into the era of the series’ peak.

The Bar For A Street Fighter Movie Could Not Be Lower

Hollywood tried this twice before and whiffed both times. The 1994 film with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raúl Juliá survives today as a camp curiosity, while 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li failed with critics and audiences alike. Nearly two decades later, expectations for another Street Fighter film aren’t too high, which gives the new movie an easy chance to surprise people.

Video game adaptations also enjoy far more goodwill now than they did in either of those eras. A Minecraft Movie became one of 2025’s biggest hits, and the Sonic the Hedgehog series keeps printing money every time it hits theaters. Street Fighter arrives in that friendlier climate with a premise audiences finally seem ready to embrace.

None of this guarantees a good movie, though. Supergirl proved how a film's marketing can be strong, but the final product ends up lukewarm. Still, the ingredients look far more promising this time. Blanka gives Momoa a part with no franchise baggage and a movie that seems genuinely thrilled to be ridiculous. After the summer Supergirl just endured, that might be the best place for him to throw punches next.