When The Next Karate Kid departs Netflix on January 31, Karate Kid fans will be a little letdown. The movie is the fourth in the well-known martial arts series and the first in which Ralph Macchio does not play Daniel LaRusso.
Mr. Miyagi travels to Boston to attend a ceremony honoring Japanese-American veterans who served in World War II at the start of Christopher Cain’s film The Next Karate Kid. He meets Louisa Pierce at the occasion, along with her granddaughter Julie (Hilary Swank), who struggles with anger management because of the death of her parents. Acknowledging Julie’s difficulties, Mr. Miyagi starts teaching her life skills and karate to help her find balance and control her emotions.
In typical Karate Kid form, Julie also battles a gang of high school bullies who intimidate other kids by using physical force. Even though Pat Morita plays Mr. Miyagi again in the 1994 film, critics gave it mostly bad reviews since they thought it didn’t improve the franchise in any way. The Next Karate Kid only made $8.9 million at the box office, compared to $90.8 million for the blockbuster 1984 movie.
The movie is mainly known for providing Swank with her big break as a result. Justin Hurwitz, a co-creator of Cobra Kai, said in 2020 that The Next Karate Kid is part of the show’s canon. Our series is set in the Miyagi-Verse, and we think that everything that has happened in a film that Mr. Miyagi has starred in, including The Next Karate Kid,” he said. Any character who has resided in this Miyagi-Verse may eventually appear on Cobra Kai.
Julie might make an appearance in Cobra Kai.
The expectation among fans has been that Swank would eventually arrive in Cobra Kai. However, as Season 6 of the series approaches its conclusion, it appears improbable. In November 2024, co-creator Josh Heald stated, “We are going to say something about whether or not she’s in the series, how amazing it is, or why she’s not.” However, we cannot discuss the return of any legacy characters or their role, so we don’t want to give away anything by dancing around it.
Swank previously stated that she is frequently questioned about a possible appearance in Cobra Kai Season 6. Unfortunately, I don’t believe I am [in the series]. It’s probably the most common question I get at the moment. ‘What’s it like working with Clint Eastwood?’ is what most people ask. However, the actor clarified, “I believe ‘Are you going to be on Cobra Kai?’ has nearly eclipsed that.” In 2022, she responded to the same query by stating, “It’s hilarious, but no one has phoned me. Nobody has phoned me, but that’s the one question I get asked the most.”
Netflix will continue to stream The Next Karate Kid until January 31.
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