Unlike both Street Fighter : L'Ultime Combat (1994) with Guile and Street Fighter : La Légende de Chun-Li (2009) with Chun-Li, both Ryu and Ken will be the main leads of the movie for a game-accurate direction of the plot.
The movie used the switched names for three characters M. Bison, Balrog & Vega, not the original names being used in Japan. The switched names are the ones known internationally.
M. Bison (in Japan) became Balrog (internationally): The boxer character was originally named M. Bison (as in Mike Bison), a reference to Mike Tyson. To avoid a potential lawsuit, Capcom changed his name to Balrog for the international release.
Balrog (in Japan) became Vega (internationally): The Spanish cage fighter with the claw was originally named Balrog in Japan. His name was moved to the boxer character, and he was renamed Vega.
Vega (in Japan) became M. Bison (internationally): The main antagonist and leader of Shadaloo was originally named Vega in Japan. His name was changed to M. Bison for the international version.
The film's setting of 1993 is the year where Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993) was released for arcades, the story and settings of the game itself also canonically takes place on that exact year in the present.
Callina Liang is the second Chinese Canadian actress to play Chun-Li after Kristin Kreuk who played her in Street Fighter : La Légende de Chun-Li (2009).
Japanese character Ryu will be play by Andrew Koji who's Japanese British. The last 3 actors who played Ryu in live action were Chinese American actor Byron Mann in Street Fighter : L'Ultime Combat (1994), Chinese British actor Jon Foo in Street Fighter: Legacy (2010) and Korean American actor Mike Moh in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (2014) and Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016).