It is official: queer country icon Orville Peck has stepped onto the bright marquee of Hollywood with his first behind the scenes look at the upcoming ‘Street Fighter‘ reboot, playing the flamboyant and deadly Vega.
A High Wattage Reveal for a Cult Icon
Fans are buzzing after Peck, best known for performing masked, shared a behind the scenes photo via actress Callina Liang’s Instagram Story, later reshared on his own account. The snapshot reveals his long blonde hair and snake tattoo, a signature look for Vega, the Spanish Ninja first introduced as a boss in Street Fighter II. Whether his signature mask will appear in the final cut remains a tantalizing mystery. Noah Centineo just even showed off his look behind the scenes.
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Packed with swagger and threat, Vega is the kind of aesthetic driven presence perfectly aligned with Peck’s artistic persona. As a queer artist known for adopting a mask as identity armor, the role feels like a natural, campy, and fierce fit.
The Cast Rolls Out
The Street Fighter film is embracing full ensemble chaos, with a lineup as colorful as it is unexpected:
- Noah Centineo as Ken Masters
- Andrew Koji as Ryu
- Callina Liang as Chun Li
- Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog
- Jason Momoa as Blanka
- Roman Reigns as Akuma
- David Dastmalchian as M. Bison
- Cody Rhodes as Guile
- Hirooki Goto as E. Honda
- Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim
- Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki
- And Orville Peck as Vega
Filming began in Australia in mid August under director Kitao Sakurai, known for The Eric Andre Show and episodes of Butterfly and Twisted Metal.
Why Peck as Vega Hits Different
For LGBTQ and queer audiences, Peck’s casting carries significance beyond novelty. His masked mystique and stylized performance echo Vega’s theatricality and offer a rare moment of queer coded representation in a mainstream action film. This is not background visibility; it is a spotlight. A fandom is not just seeing a rebel with a claw—it is seeing one fully permitted to exist in blockbuster frames.
Whether he keeps the mask or not, Peck brings both physicality and aesthetic rebellion to the role. Vega is a paradox: graceful yet lethal, unmasked beauty yet hidden identity. That speaks directly to the duality of queer visibility—bold expression fused with protective anonymity.
A Storied Franchise, a Risky Reboot
The Street Fighter video game franchise has long stood as a cultural colossus, but its live action legacy has been rocky. The 1994 Van Damme and Kylie Minogue version earned cult status for camp over acclaim, while 2009’s Legend of Chun Li was both a critical and commercial misfire.
This reboot dials up both ambition and eccentric casting. With Momoa electrifying as a green brute, 50 Cent punching his way into nostalgia, and Peck poised to scissor eye his way through iconic boss battles, the film may finally strike that high voltage balance between homage and grit.
The Queer Subtext That Matters
In a genre that rarely centers queer energy beyond subtle coding, Street Fighter risks and rewards converge. Vega’s poison and prance become queer in performance, not written or rationalized, simply enacted. And Orville Peck, performer and queer dream weaver, brings more than homage. He delivers presence. In a rainbow of bodies and names, he offers a different kind of reflection: one of masked strength and velvet reckoning.
The film still holds tight to mystery, release dates, plot arcs, even Vega’s final look. But one thing is clear: this reboot is not just another game to film gamble. With Peck as Vega, it could very well become queer camp canon.
