Spoilers for Karate Kid: Legends ahead.A couple of days ago, theKarate Kidfranchise came back to theaters for the first time since 2010.Karate Kid: Legendsis a nostalgic piece that aims to keep the cinematic flame alive of a universe that was, without question, revived with the TV seriesCobra Kai. It’s safe to say thatLegendswould not have been made without the success of theNetflixspin-off that gave new life to the martial arts franchise. However, as the director has noted, they are separate intellectual properties, which could explain the lack ofCobra Kaicharacters in the recently released film.
DirectorJonathan Entwistletook on the challenge of rebooting theKarate Kidfranchise, even going so far as to makethe 2010 rebootcanon with the original storyline. We won’t spoil for you how he manages to do it, but rest assured that it all makes sense. In a conversation withThe Hollywood Reporter, Entwistle talked about his objective to appeal to all sides of theKarate Kidfandom withLegends:
There’s really three audiences: theKarate Kidaudience, theCobra Kaiaudience, and the movie-going audience, which is actually a huge, huge piece. So it was very important for me to be audience-first and make this a great experience in the theater.
Exactly.Cobra Kaihas its own audience, and most fans of the show are the ones that are still engaged with the franchise more than 40 years later.Cobra Kaiprovided closure to unresolved arcs and proved that there’s still juice left. Naturally, fans took it for granted that the film would involve characters from the show aside fromRalph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso. However, Entwistle shares the very reason why it was not possible. He also emphasizes thatKarate Kid: Legendsis not aCobra Kaimovie:
“We could use anything that’s in the movies. We could have used and touched on any concept that was in the original movies. So we could always use Daniel and Miyagi, but any elements that are ‘Cobra Kai’-specific are not a Columbia Pictures property.
“I think it’s very important to piece out the stories in the correct way. We are not a ‘Cobra Kai’ movie in any way, shape, or form, and that was never the intention. ‘Cobra Kai’ is so important within the overall gamut that it was only right to let it have its absolute air to breathe.
“So I saw no point in confusing [the audience] with a ‘Karate Kid’ movie that sits right next to the end of ‘Cobra Kai.’ So it was really, really good, certainly as a ‘Cobra Kai’ fan, that it had its moment and was allowed to finish. And now it’s like, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got a different story over here. Let’s just keep going.’ It’s nothing but a positive addition to the overall world.”
‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Punches Above Its Weight at the Box Office, but Falls Short of Franchise Record
‘Karate Kid: Legends’ is looking at an impressive opening weekend, but it will be well below the debut of 2010’s ‘The Karate Kid.’
Spoiler Alert: ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Has a Mid-Credits Scene and You Might Want to Stick Around For It
The exception, however, involves Daniel LaRusso and… Johnny Lawrence. As it turns out, while Johnny isthe star ofCobra Kai, his character is part of the franchise’s origins. It’s bold to claim that without Lawrence, there would not be a franchise, but we can’t undermine his importance as a central antagonist. His legacy was so important that Entwistle decided that, if there was someone from theCobra Kaiuniverse who had to show up forLegends, that would be Johnny himself. You might want to stick around after the credits roll in the film:
“It was just the perfect way to round everything out. It became quite clear that we were putting all of the pieces together and that Cobra Kai would have ended by the time audiences see this. And like I said, that’s Johnny’s story. So to bring the two of them together to round that out just felt really perfect.
“Billy [Zabka, who plays Johnny Lawrence] came [to set], and a lot of it was improv. A lot of that was just Ralph and Billy. After so many years of working together, they could just do their thing together. So we just wanted to capture that, and we wanted to put that at the end of the movie. This is by no means the end of Daniel LaRusso’s story at all.”
The Hollywood Reporter
Karate Kid: Legends
