Karate Kid: Legendsstarts a new chapter inThe Karate Kidmovie saga, but how is the nextKarate Kidfilm connected toCobra Kai? Directed by Jonathan Entwistle and written by Rob Lieber,Karate Kid: Legendsintroduces a new young martial arts student, Li Fong (Ben Wang). Li is tutored byMr. Han (Jackie Chan), who returns as the sensei from 2010’sThe Karate Kid.Karate Kid: Legends' big draw is the return of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who joins Mr. Han in training Li.
Karate Kid: Legendsis the sixthKarate Kidmovieand the first new film sinceCobra Kaibecame a global sensation on Netflix. About to wrap up its sixth and final season in February 2025,Cobra Kaisignificantly expandedThe Karate Kiduniverse, drawing inspiration from the 1980s movies starring Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san and Noriyuki “Pat” Morita’s Mr. Miyagi while introducing a whole newcast of youngCobra KaiandKarate Kidheroes.Karate Kid: Legendswill directly connect withCobra Kai,merging the offshootKarate Kidfilms led by Jackie Chan with the greater ‘Miyagiverse.’
Karate Kid: Legends Does Exist In The Same Universe As Cobra Kai
“Two Branches, One Tree.”
Karate Kid: Legendswill directly connect withCobra Kaiby teaming up Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han. In effect,Karate Kid: Legendswill combine the entireKarate Kidfranchise, which comprises the first fourKarate Kidmovies that centered on Mr. Miyagi, 2010’sThe Karate Kidmovie starring Jackie Chan, and the six seasons ofCobra Kaiinto one shared universe. The connections even go deeper asKarate Kid: Legendswill link the history of Mr. Han’s kung fu with the establishedlegacy of Mr. Miyagi’s Miyagi-Do karate, andconfirm that Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi once knew each other.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 Cast & Character Guide
Cobra Kai season 6 sees the main crew head to Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai, where they face off against a new bunch of fighters (& their actors).
BeforeKarate Kid: Legends,2010’sThe Karate Kidreboot starring Jackie Chanand Jaden Smith was considered a separate timeline. This was due to rights issues, although Will Smith is listed as a producer ofCobra Kaidespite never appearing in Netflix’s series because he was a producer of 2010’sThe Karate Kid. However,Karate Kid: Legendsunifies the entire franchise so that every movie andCobra Kaiare now part of the overallKarate Kidtimeline.Karate Kid: Legends' tagline,“Two branches, one tree"can also symbolize how allKarate Kidmovies andCobra Kaiare part of the same tree.
Karate Kid: Legends Takes Place After Cobra Kai Season 6
How Much Of A Time Jump Remains To Be Seen
Karate Kid: Legendstakes place an undetermined amount of time afterCobra Kaiseason 6.Cobra Kai’s timeline is years behind the real world’swithCobra Kaiseason 6, part 2’sSekai Taikai tournamenthappening in April 2020. IfKarate Kid: Legendsis set in the present day of 2024 or 2025, then years will have passed for Daniel sinceCobra Kai ended, and his two children, Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Anthony (Griffin Santopietro) are out of college. The state of the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do dojos will be revealed whenCobra Kaiseason 6 ends.
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A present day setting would also mean roughly 15 years will have passed since 2010’sThe Karate Kid, when Mr. Han trained Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) in Beijing. Since that time,Mr. Han has moved to the United States asKarate Kid: Legendstakes place in New York City.Karate Kid: Legends' trailer shows Mr. Han traveling to Southern California to find Daniel LaRusso at Mr. Miyagi’s home in the San Fernando Valley. Judging from the glimpses of Miyagi’s house, which was also the Miyagi-Do dojo inCobra Kai, it may have been years since students trained there afterCobra Kai’s ending.
Which Cobra Kai Characters Return In Karate Kid: Legends
Karate Kid: Legends Keeps The Movie Franchise Largely Separate
Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso is the only confirmedCobra Kaicharacter returning inKarate Kid: Legends.While it’s possible there could be mentions of otherCobra Kaicharacters like Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Daniel’s wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler), or the LaRusso children, only Daniel-san is known to appear inKarate Kid: Legends.Daniel is essential as the main character for the first threeKarate Kidmovies(and as one ofCobra Kai’s leads) to unify his side of theKarate Kidfranchise with Mr. Han’s films.
Daniel LaRusso is the torchbearer of Mr. Miyagi’s legacy, and he’s the most widely knownKarate Kidmovie hero.
While Mr. Miyagi won’t appear in person, Daniel-san’s beloved sensei is definitely mentioned and part ofKarate Kid: Legendsin spirit.Mr. Miyagi’s portrait and one of his Miyagi-Do headbands are part ofKarate Kid: Legends.At this point inThe Karate Kidtimeline, Daniel-san will have worked through hisfears about Mr. Miyagi inCobra Kaiseason 6. WhileCobra Kaifans will miss their many favorite characters,Karate Kid: Legendsis a new and different side of the franchise, and Daniel is link to the overallKarate Kidsaga.
Karate Kid: Legends Continues Making Karate Kid’s Movie Universe Bigger
New York Is A New Setting For The Karate Kid
1984’sThe Karate Kidwas set in the San Fernando Valley, but the franchise opened up starting withThe Karate Kid Part II,which took Daniel-san to Mr. Miyagi’s home in Okinawa. Miyagi traveled to Boston to meet Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank) in 1994’sThe Next Karate Kid, whileThe Karate Kid(2010) took the franchise to Beijing, China.Cobra Kaihas also broken out of its own San Fernando Valley trappings to travel to Mexico, Vietnam for John Kreese’s (Martin Kove) origin flashbacks, South Korea, and Barcelona, Spain for the Sekai Taikai.
Karate Kid: Legendsis poised to growThe Karate Kidsaga by connecting to the past movies andCobra Kaiso that it’s all one rich, shared karate universe.
Karate Kid: Legends’New York City setting is an exciting new playground for the saga’s brand of teen karate, andLi Fong is the first young Asian hero to be the lead of aKarate Kidmovie.Karate Kid: Legendswill also tie Mr. Han’s kung fu with Miyagi-Do, revealing that Mr. Miyagi’s ancestor learned derived karate from the kung fu of Mr. Han’s ancestor, as Mr. Miyagi explained to Daniel-san inThe Karate Kid Part II.Karate Kid: Legendsis poised to growThe Karate Kidsaga by connecting to the past movies andCobra Kaiso that it’s all one rich, shared karate universe.
