Cobra Kai Sequel Reveals The Harsh Truth About The Karate Kid Franchise

by

The recent conclusion of Cobra Kai in early 2025 revealed something important about the Karate Kid franchise. After six seasons, the show successfully brought new life to the Karate Kid series, and is often considered one of its best installments, surpassing initial expectations.

The success of Cobra Kai led a major Hollywood studio to create a new movie for its fans. Released in May 2025, Karate Kid: Legends combined the storylines from Cobra Kai with the 2010 Karate Kid reboot featuring Jackie Chan.

Fans were excited and hoped Karate Kid: Legends would connect with and feel similar to Cobra Kai, especially by building on its success and taking the story in a fresh direction. Unfortunately, the movie ended up highlighting a difficult reality about The Karate Kid franchise.

Karate Kid: Legends Was Not The Cobra Kai Sequel Fans Wanted

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

Many fans were disappointed with Karate Kid: Legends because it seemed to disregard the popular Cobra Kai series and its impact on the franchise. There was a lot of excitement about a new Karate Kid movie after Cobra Kai, and a chance to expand on the show’s success while also honoring the original and 2010 films. The new movie could have blended the best elements of both, but it didn’t seem to do so.

Unfortunately, Karate Kid: Legends spent more time developing its new characters. While these new characters were well-done, it meant that Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso didn’t get the attention they deserved. Both established characters felt underdeveloped, and Daniel, in particular, seemed to be included mostly to please fans.

The movie Karate Kid: Legends didn’t connect to Daniel’s experiences in Cobra Kai, and generally lacked any connection to the show. This made it feel like a letdown as a follow-up to the Netflix series.

There’s A Reason Why Karate Kid: Legends Didn’t Reference Cobra Kai

Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore.

It was frustrating for fans that Karate Kid: Legends didn’t include anything from Cobra Kai. The problem was simply about who owned the rights to the shows and movies. Karate Kid: Legends was made by Columbia Pictures, while Cobra Kai is a Netflix series. Because of this, the filmmakers were only legally allowed to use characters and stories from the original Karate Kid movies and the 2010 remake.

Although William Zabka appears as Johnny Lawrence in the animated series Karate Kid: Legends, his character actually debuted in the original Karate Kid movie. This Legends cameo doesn’t include any elements from the Cobra Kai series beyond the developing friendship between Johnny and Daniel, which was due to unavoidable legal restrictions regarding the rights to the Cobra Kai storyline.

Cobra Kai May Have Become Bigger Than The Karate Kid

The lackluster reception of Karate Kid: Legends highlights a key point about the Karate Kid franchise: Cobra Kai has arguably surpassed the original movies in popularity. While the 1984 film The Karate Kid remains a classic, the sequels weren’t always well-received, and by The Karate Kid – Part III, they were starting to lose viewers at the box office.

The 2010 remake of The Karate Kid initially succeeded simply because it was a fresh start. Karate Kid: Legends tried to build on the original story, but it didn’t receive great reviews and didn’t perform well in theaters.

While the recent Karate Kid: Legends highlighted a disconnect from the original Cobra Kai storyline, Cobra Kai has surprisingly become the most important part of the entire franchise. Its popularity has remained strong for six seasons, and it’s now possible that Cobra Kai has surpassed The Karate Kid in terms of overall impact, as demonstrated by the direction of Karate Kid: Legends.

Read More

2025-12-05 16:09