Karate Kid: Legends is the next installment in the тιтular franchise, and marks some big differences from the most recent entry, Cobra Kai. As Cobra Kai season 6 draws the show to a close in February 2025, attention will turn to Karate Kid: Legends. The cinematic Karate Kid reboot will be the first installment in the franchise to be released in theaters worldwide since 2010’s The Karate Kid, bringing together two different sides of the long-running series.
As evidenced by the trailer for Karate Kid: Legends, the film will render 2010’s film a spin-off of the original Karate Kid, rather than the remake many ᴀssumed it was. Karate Kid: Legends‘ cast is helmed by Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan, with the marketing already proving the movie to be very different from Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai is beloved for many a reason, but it seems Karate Kid: Legends is not content to simply repeat its success. Based solely on the first trailer for the latter, several differences between it and Cobra Kai are highlighted.
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Karate Kid: Legends Will Be More Family-Friendly Than Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai Has The Tendency To Reach A Dark Place
Despite Cobra Kai being a very self-referential, humorous show, there is no denying that it can explore dark subject matter. Some big plot points include Miguel Diaz’s back injury in Cobra Kai season 2’s finale, as well as the death of a younger character at the Sekai Taikai in Cobra Kai season 6, part 2’s ending. Beyond the big twists of the show, its overall nature has more adult themes, from the amount of cursing prevalent throughout to the way it explores the gray area of its central characters, like Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence, and even Mr. Miyagi.
Cobra Kai even features flashbacks to the Vietnam War via John Kreese and Terry Silver’s story, which includes some dark moments.
Overall, this renders Cobra Kai a show for the adults who grew up watching Karate Kid. With Karate Kid: Legends, it seems as though the movie will be directed more towards families. Although the tone of the show seems more self-serious than Cobra Kai, as a cinematic release that a studio will be hoping is a big box office hit, Karate Kid: Legends will likely serve as an entry point to the franchise for both younger and older audiences.
9
Mr. Miyagi’s Old Dojo Is Run Down In Karate Kid: Legends
The Dojo’s Usage Has Expired
A more surface-level difference between Karate Kid: Legends and Cobra Kai involves Mr. Miyagi’s dojo. At one point in the trailer for the former, Chan’s Mr. Han is shown pulling up to the dojo which looks notably more abandoned than it does in Cobra Kai. While it is still well-kept, it is clear that this is due to the timeline between Karate Kid: Legends and Cobra Kai.
It has been confirmed that Karate Kid: Legends is set three years after Cobra Kai season 6, the story that will end the latter show. As such, the characters from Cobra Kai will have long moved on from learning karate in the Miyagi-do Dojo, explaining why it looks slightly less polished in Karate Kid: Legends. To make the dojo less polished be even more logical, another difference between Karate Kid: Legends and Cobra Kai is the location.
8
Karate Kid: Legends Relocates The Franchise
From The West Coast To The East
As alluded to, Karate Kid: Legends is relocating the series. For the most part, the franchise has taken place in California, with every single season of Cobra Kai being set in the state also. Although Cobra Kai season 6 has a story in Barcelona, the hub of the series has been Los Angeles. In Karate Kid: Legends, the story will take place in New York as evidenced by the trailer for the movie.
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No Johnny Lawrence Or Other Karate Kid Legacy Characters
Karate Kid: Legends Will Not Utilize Other Cobra Kai Characters
One of the biggest differences between Karate Kid: Legends and Cobra Kai is the former’s absence of Karate Kid legacy characters. Of course, the film will feature Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han, both of whom can be classed as such. Aside from these two, however, no other characters from the franchise are expected to appear beyond the likeness of the late Mr. Miyagi as shown in the trailer.
This is different from Cobra Kai, which focuses almost entirely on legacy characters from the franchise. Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence are two main characters in the show who are going against the тιтular dojo, often led by John Kreese and Terry Silver, two major villains from the original trilogy. Other supporting characters include Chozen, Mike Barnes, Kumiko, Ali Mills, and Daniel’s mother, Lucille LaRusso. Most of these characters will be absent from Karate Kid: Legends, with the movie focusing solely on LaRusso and Mr. Han from previous installments.
6
Li Fong Looks Stronger Than Any Of Cobra Kai’s Characters Were At The Beginning
The Karate Kid Already Knows Karate
A common theme of the Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai is that the child characters do not know karate at the onset of the story. Daniel had to be trained by Miyagi, as did Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker by Mr. Han in 2010’s The Karate Kid. Cobra Kai followed this format, with Miguel, Hawk, Demetri, Sam, Tory, and Robby – to name only a few Cobra Kai characters – not knowing any martial arts at the beginning of the show. The children had to be trained by Daniel and Johnny to become what they are in Cobra Kai season 6.
Based on the Karate Kid: Legends trailer, it seems as though Li is already well-trained…
Herein lies another difference between Cobra Kai and Karate Kid: Legends. The latter is focused on a character named Li Fong, played by Ben Wang. Based on the Karate Kid: Legends trailer, it seems as though Li is already well-trained when the film begins. The character looks incredibly formidable where martial arts is concerned, with Daniel only brought in by Mr. Han to take Li’s training to the next level.
5
Karate Kid: Legends Looks More Self-Serious Than Cobra Kai
Gone Is The Self-Referential Humor
While Cobra Kai has tackled some dark elements, the show overall has an air of lightness. The reason for this is the way it tackles the sillier parts of the show’s premise by embracing them with self-referential, meta humor. The writers of Cobra Kai are aware that the show can be quite silly yet embrace that, making it all the better for it. Karate Kid: Legends’ tone is very different from this if the trailer is anything to go by.
The trailer for Karate Kid: Legends does not showcase a single moment of humor. This is not to say there will be no jokes when the movie is released, but a trailer’s job is to convey the style and tone of a project while keeping moments hidden. Where Karate Kid: Legends is concerned, it seems as if the film will take itself more seriously than Cobra Kai, which unabashedly leans into its sillier elements.
4
Karate Kid: Legends Will Only Focus On One Younger Character
The Large Cast Of Cobra Kai Is No More
Perhaps one of the most distinct aspects of Cobra Kai is how many child characters it focuses on. As a TV series, Cobra Kai can utilize long-form storytelling to focus on many different young people, allowing the show to have an increasingly large cast. Karate Kid: Legends is a movie and therefore does not have this benefit, meaning the cast is considerably smaller.
The main young character of Karate Kid: Legends will be Wang’s Li Fong. The movie will undoubtedly focus on Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso also, but their main purpose is to train Li Fong as the next Karate Kid. Rather than focus on the many characters that Cobra Kai does, Karate Kid: Legends will be much more focused.
3
Karate Kid: Legends Will Address Karate Kid Films Outside Of The First Trilogy
The Miyagiverse Is Expanding
Since Cobra Kai‘s release and the confirmation of Karate Kid: Legends, the term “Miyagiverse” has been used by those involved. This term once referred to the original Karate Kid trilogy, its spin-off тιтled The Next Karate Kid, and Cobra Kai. As a result, Cobra Kai focused a lot on the ties to the original Karate Kid trilogy, omitting any connections to The Next Karate Kid – despite that existing in the Miyagiverse – and 2010’s The Karate Kid, which was initially created as a remake of the 1984 original.
Will Smith connects the two sides of the franchise; his son, Jaden Smith, starred in 2010’s The Karate Kid, with the actor himself serving as a producer on the film as well as an executive producer on Cobra Kai.
With Karate Kid: Legends, the Miyagiverse is growing larger. The connection between Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi has been teased for the upcoming movie, retconning 2010’s The Karate Kid as part of the Miyagiverse. Where Cobra Kai did not address the events of 2010’s The Karate Kid, Karate Kid: Legends will tie directly to the film, thus connecting to stories in the franchise beyond the original trilogy.
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Karate Kid: Legends Will Be More Cinematic Than Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai’s TV Confines Are Not A Problem For Karate Kid: Legends
As a TV show, Cobra Kai has to stay within certain parameters. Although its budget is much bigger than most TV shows due to it being produced by Netflix, Cobra Kai has some limitations regarding its cinematic values. Many of the fight scenes are excellent, but there is no denying that Cobra Kai simply cannot achieve the same cinematic level as Karate Kid: Legends due to the latter’s production as a feature film.
In the trailer for Karate Kid: Legends, several more cinematic elements are included. For instance, a scene in the trailer shows a great stunt in which Ben Wang’s Li Fong fights someone off in an alleyway. This moment alone looks more difficult as a stunt than many elements of Cobra Kai, proving the theatrical release of Karate Kid: Legends gives it a distinct cinematic upgrade, despite the Netflix show’s many strengths in that regard.
1
Karate Kid: Legends Will Not Feature Bickering Senseis
Mr. Han & LaRusso Seem Friendly With One Another
A common aspect – and often complaint – of Cobra Kai is the show’s argumentative characters. After six seasons, Cobra Kai often repeats the same conflicts, mainly through the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Their animosity was a big focus of Cobra Kai seasons 1, 2, and 3, and even upon their joining forces beyond that, some antagonistic feelings persisted.
This has become somewhat tiring in Cobra Kai, even though season 6 allowed more of a sense of unity than any of its predecessors. Karate Kid: Legends will seemingly not feature this trend. The trailer for the film shows Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso getting along well, with no hint of any arguments or disagreements taking place between the lead characters. While the film could change that upon its release, Karate Kid: Legends‘ more amiable sensei relationship is another big difference between it and Cobra Kai.
