‘I Don’t Climb Over Others to Get Ahead’ — Mortal Kombat Movie Producer Reacts After Street Fighter Cast Threw Big Shots at the Mortal Kombat 2 Cast | The Game Awards 2025

One of the big surprises at The Game Awards 2025 was not only the debut trailer for the Street Fighter movie, but the appearance on-stage of the entire cast. That’s right, the likes of Jason Momoa, who plays Blanka, Cody Rhodes, who plays Guile, and Roman Reigns, who plays Akuma turned up to hype up next year’s Street Fighter adaptation.

And then came one of the highlights of the entire show — at least for me personally as a lifelong fan of both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Comedian Andrew Schulz, who plays Dan Hibiki, went for the cast of Mortal Kombat 2 with a joke that certainly got the attention of fans online.

“We’re not the only game that appreciates your patronage,” Schulz began. “There’s another game out there, they also flew from around the world to be here because they appreciate you. So give it up for the whole cast of Mortal Kombat 2!”

As the audience applauded in anticipation of the Mortal Kombat 2 cast actually coming out onto the stage, Schulz revealed the truth: “I’m just kidding. They didn’t come. They don’t care about you. They only care about money. We care about money AND you. Street Fighter FOREVER!”

The cast of the Street Fighter Movie just threw BIG shots at the Mortal Kombat Movie Kast at #TheGameAwards! Oh it’s on! 😤 pic.twitter.com/IbclswNMnq

— David (@unCAGEDgamez) December 12, 2025

“They just started a war,” declared fighting game streamer unCAGEDgamez. “Oh it’s on!” Reaction from other fans was similar. “No one from this Street Fighter cast outdoing Scorpion and Sub-Zero,” said another Mortal Kombat fan. “Hadoukens fired!” one fan added.

Todd Garner, producer of the Mortal Kombat 2 movie, also chimed in with a reaction of his own. Clearly a little put out by the joke, Garner tweeted: “I don’t climb over others to get ahead.”

But then, later, he offered a more diplomatic assessment, while keeping the prior tweet live: “I hope they both are huge.”

This all leans into the long-standing rivalry between Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, a rivalry that goes back to the ‘90s and banter-filled school playgrounds. I’m old enough to remember being forced to pick a side at school while secretly enjoying both games at home. But there is a delicious full circle moment coming next year when, somewhat improbably, both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat 2 hit theaters within five months of each other. Mortal Kombat 2 goes first, on May 8, then Street Fighter counters on October 16.

The only way we can settle this is by finally releasing a Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter game, of course. NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon has said multiple times over the years that such a crossover was a dream of his, and he in fact tried to make it happen but negotiations with Capcom collapsed. Maybe now, with both games getting their movie adaptations next year, the time is right for a rematch?

As for Schulz’s joke, it was just that and not worth taking too seriously. Let’s remember he’s playing joke character Dan in the movie, so is almost certainly going to get beaten to a pulp in hilarious fashion. I imagine Todd Garner will enjoy that one.

Street Fighter movie cast:

• Noah Centineo as “Ken Masters”
• Andrew Koji as “Ryu”
• Callina Liang as “Chun-Li”
• Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai as “Akuma”
• David Dastmalchian as “M. Bison”
• Cody Rhodes as “Guile”
• Andrew Schulz as “Dan Hibiki”
• Vidyut Jammwal as “Dhalsim”
• Eric André as “Don Sauvage”
• Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson as “Balrog”
• Jason Momoa as “Blanka”
• Orville Peck as “Vega”
• Olivier Richters as “Zangief”
• Hirooki Goto as “E. Honda”
• Rayna Vallandingham as “Juli”
• Alexander Volkanovski as “Joe”
• Kyle Mooney as “Marvin”
• Mel Jarnson as “Cammy”

Street Fighter Movie Character Posters