It seems like Fei Long, a popular character based on the late Bruce Lee, will not return in Street Fighter 6 or any Street Fighter installment for that matter.
Taking to YouTube to speak with fans in a recent live stream, long-time Capcom and Street Fighter composer Daniel Lindholm stated that the Lee family has refused to license comedic or comic homages of Bruce Lee in the media. It essentially means that Fei Long or any other character based on Bruce Lee may never be allowed to join a Street Fighter game.
“They [Lee family] basically said any king of resemblance to Mr. Bruce Lee is now omitted for comedic effect or comic stuff,” said Lindholm. “It needs to be honorable, so that’s why we won’t see Fei Long again ever.”
Fei Long is not alone. There are a number of other fighting characters that are based on the late martial artist and actor. There is Law from Tekken and Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat as a few examples.
Fans believe that the Lee family took a stance after seeing the comedic portrayal of Bruce Lee in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood film. If that is the case, Law may also not return in Tekken 8. The same would be the case for Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 12.
The stance is vague by all means. Fei Long was never portrayed with any comedic effort in the Street Fighter franchise. Capcom could always discuss the matter with the Lee family but could also let the matter slide to avoid any unprecedented legal aspects.
Fei Long made his last appearance in Street Fighter 4 as a playable character and made only a cameo appearance as part of the storyline of Street Fighter 5. Capcom has only confirmed Ryu and Luke for the final Street Fighter 6 roster with a reveal taking place in the coming months, which has been speculated to be during the Summer Game Fest 2022 between June and July.
