Karate Kid: Legends will be missing key characters from Cobra Kai, which means I may never know what came of the spinoff series’ best couple. Of course, it’s exciting to know that the Karate Kid franchise is continuing after the Netflix spinoff’s ending. It will be great to see Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso in a movie for the first time since the 1980s. Still, with Karate Kid: Legends remaining almost entirely separate from Cobra Kai, it’s a bit of a bummer that we likely won’t get much crossover. The series just ended, but I’m already eager to know what comes next for the teen characters.

The upcoming Karate Kid movie will see Daniel LaRusso team up with Jackie Chan’s 2010 Karate Kid character, Mr. Han, to teach a new student Mr. Miyagi’s ways. The movie will be set three years after the final episode of Cobra Kai, and the fact that we have this information implies that, at the very least, we may get a subtle update about what Daniel has been up to in the years between. Still, I have little hope for updates regarding each of the many Cobra Kai characters if they aren’t included in Karate Kid: Legends‘ actual story.

Miguel And Sam Are Not In Karate Kid: Legends (As Far As We Know)

Mary Mauser & Xolo Maridueña Aren’t On The Cast List

While I had little hope that characters like Hawk or Tory would be in Karate Kid: Legends, I had thought that Daniel’s immediate family might make at least brief appearances. However, only a couple of months before the movie’s May 30, 2025 release date, there has been no addition of further Cobra Kai characters to the cast list. This means that Daniel’s daughter, Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), likely won’t be a feature of the upcoming film. If she isn’t, then Xolo Maridueña’s Miguel definitely won’t be.

Without Sam or Miguel showing up in Karate Kid: Legends, there is little hope that the upcoming film will reveal what became of their relationship. This romance was among the overarching storylines of Cobra Kai, and the TV show left their future a bit ambiguous. They were still together, but it was evident that their lives were heading in two separate directions. I would love some answers, but I likely won’t get them first hand. My best hope is that Daniel will mention his daughter at some point during Karate Kid: Legends.

Karate Kid: Legends Has To At Least Reference Samantha LaRusso

It Would Be Weird If Daniel Didn’t Mention His Family

It would be a bit bizarre if Daniel LaRusso didn’t even mention his experiences from Cobra Kai. The end of the series saw him form a partnership between Miyagi-Do and Johnny Lawrence’s Cobra Kai, while his daughter Sam went off to Japan and his son Anthony continued to train at these two dojos. While Karate Kid: Legends will take Daniel out of the Valley, his family will still exist in the background, even if they never actually appear. To make Daniel seem a complete character, the new movie will need to establish what his personal life looks like at this point in the storyline.

Hopefully, this will mean some information about what Sam is doing three years after Cobra Kai. The last time we saw her, she was headed to Japan to study abroad, but this should be long over by the events of Karate Kid: Legends. She may have decided to continue her college education in this country, or perhaps she began to travel elsewhere around the world. It’s even possible that, after her time in Okinawa, she decided that her place was back in California with her family. Regardless of the answer, it would only take a few moments for Daniel to clear things up—perhaps even confirming what came of Sam’s first romance.

By Referencing Sam, Karate Kid: Legends May Reveal The Fate Of Her And Miguel’s Relationship

Are They Still Together 3 Years Later

When Cobra Kai came to a close, I had the feeling that Miguel’s trip to Japan with Sam before he returned to the US to attend Stanford would mean the end of their relationship. Sam and Miguel are high school sweethearts, and college—especially in different locations across the globe—tends to be the end of that. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. It’s certainly possible that Sam and Miguel either maintained a long distance relationship or reconnected after Sam returned from Japan.

In general, Cobra Kai gave Sam and Miguel a satisfying ending. Whether they stayed together or not, each has a bright future ahead of them. Still, in the idealized world of fiction, I would love to see their journey together paid off. Karate Kid: Legends has the opportunity to make this happen, and even if it comes from only the most brief mention, I’d be grateful if the movie took advantage.