M. Bison and Shadaloo may not be actually gone for good according to Street Fighter 6's Director
The destruction of M. Bison and downfall of Shadaloo by the end of Street Fighter 5's story had seemingly put an end to that chapter of the series after 3 decades, but that may not be the case after all.
During the recent round of interviews for Street Fighter 6, Director Takayuki Nakayama appears to imply that the dictator could still be revived.
When asking about the description of Chun-Li's profile on the official website by 4Gamer, this is what the director had to say regarding the organization.
"In SF5's general story for Guile, Shadaloo is destroyed, and M. Bison's body collapses after eating Ryu's Hadoken," said Nakayama translated via 4Gamer. "Currently, it is all ruined, but it's possible there could be a revival (laughs)."
He was asked a similar question about Shadaloo by Game Watch as well where Nakayama says that the "body" or "body of Shadaloo" is destroyed.
This could be implying that all Bison would need to bring his evil back into the world is a new body, which isn't exactly surprising.
The villain of 30 years has already swapped vessels multiple times throughout the series after his bodies were destroyed in Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter Alpha, but he always had a backup in the wait.
What would be funny, however, is if Bison's issue is that nobody wants to bring him back.
During and following the conclusion of SF5's story, we see Vega and Balrog leaving and going off to do their own things.
That would basically just leave F.A.N.G, who did set out to try and restore Shadaloo in the Toxicity side story.
"F.A.N.G wasn't entirely convinced that Lord Bison was truly dead. Hoping to revive Shadaloo, F.A.N.G visited dark companies he'd had dealings with in the past, hoping to gain resources. He had once controlled these companies through power, but now a different approach was needed - to sit down and have a talk over drinks."
However, the former second in command stumbles upon the girl he'd take on to be his apprentice, which gives his life meaning again — so he may well be less inclined to chase that path further, at least for now.
Other character stories in SF5 like Oro and Falke's do also suggest that Bison's phantom is still present in the world after his defeat and may still hold influence over characters or events that are to unfold.
Now, this isn't all to say that Capcom is preparing a grand revival of Shadaloo in Street Fighter 6 when the original cast has matured and moved on with that chapter of their lives.
But, it makes sense that the developers would at the very least leave the door open to bring back villains that have been series staples and fan favorites for a long time.
If we consider the hidden character graffiti tags on Street Fighter's website teasing roster inclusions though, there may be at least 2 Shadaloo members looking to make their mark on SF6.
