Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Karate Kid: Legends!Ralph Macchio returns as Daniel LaRusso in Karate Kid: Legends, but how he does it is incredibly disappointing after Cobra Kai. The star of the original three Karate Kid movies found a surprise second chance to play a career-defining role in the late 2010s when the franchise returned as a TV series for YouTube. After finding popularity on Netflix and pivoting to the streamer for the final few seasons, Cobra Kai‘s success played a key role in Sony greenlighting Karate Kid: Legends.

The movie was announced ahead of Cobra Kai‘s conclusion and confirmed that Ralph Macchio would return as Daniel LaRusso again. Alongside an appearance with Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han from the 2010 reboot, seeing how Karate Kid: Legends would bring the two martial arts masters together was the big selling point. And even though it has only been a few months since Daniel’s story in the TV show concluded, I was excited to find out how the movie would handle his return. How it plays out turned Daniel into one of the movie’s most disappointing aspects.

It Takes A Long Time For Ralph Macchio To Show Up As Daniel LaRusso In Karate Kid: Legends

He’s Far From A Major Character

Karate Kid: Legends, technically, wastes no time bringing Daniel into the story, as the movie opens with footage from The Karate Kid Part II of him and Mr. Miyagi talking about the Miyagi ancestors. This is used to establish the connection between Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi’s families, and the story quickly moves to Beijing, China as it reintroduces Mr. Han and introduces Li Fang. However, Daniel is not seen again for about the next hour of the movie.

When Li moves to New York early on, Mr. Han remains part of the story through periodic phone calls. Daniel is nowhere to be found throughout this entire time, though, as he has no existing connection to Li. It’s only after Mr. Han visits his prized pupil that he decides to go find Daniel and convince him to teach Li karate. We get a brief scene of Han and Daniel talking about Mr. Miyagi, which I liked, before Han leaves California.

Some more time pᴀsses before Daniel finally shows up in New York. He’s part of story from that point forward, but it means Macchio is only really in Karate Kid: Legends‘ third act. He’s a tertiary character (or worse) for this movie. That’s a far cry from the leading roles Daniel has had in the franchise for over 40 years. I never expected Daniel to be the lead of Karate Kid: Legends, but I definitely thought he’d be in the movie for more than just the final pieces of training and the tournament.

Daniel LaRusso Is Not Really Important To Karate Kid: Legends’ Story

The Movie Wouldn’t Change Much Without Him

I think what disappoints me more than just the size of Daniel’s role in Karate Kid: Legends is the nature of it. This was never going to be his story, and that’s a good thing. Li Fang is a compelling character who I enjoyed quite a lot, largely thanks to Ben Wang’s performance. But, I thought that Daniel would still be a key figure in helping shape Li’s fight training or even providing him with words of wisdom.

The truth of the matter is that Daniel’s only real contribution is helping develop the Tiger Trap move that Li uses to win the 5 Boroughs Tournament in Karate Kid: Legends‘ ending. The movie attempts to make the connection between Han, Daniel, and Miyagi feel important, but it isn’t fully realized. Han and Daniel are meant to represent the two branches of the Miyagi tree. The film fails to communicate exactly how they are both helping Li beyond the fact that one is kung fu and the other is karate.

Thanks to how quickly paced Karate Kid: Legends‘ ending is, there isn’t the necessary time spent developing the connection Daniel has to Han or Li. I’m now left feeling that the movie would have worked just fine, if not better, if Daniel wasn’t even in it. He either needed a much bigger role, or at least a more meaningful one, or be left out of the movie altogether in my opinion.

Karate Kid: Legends Sidelining Ralph Macchio Is Worse After Cobra Kai

The Show Did Him Justice

I think part of the frustration with Daniel’s role in Karate Kid: Legends is seeing how Cobra Kai utilized Macchio. Although the show spent plenty of time focusing on the kids and Johnny Lawrence, Daniel remained a key figure throughout. The long-form nature of the format allowed the show plenty of time to explore his struggle to carry on Miyagi’s teachings and grow as a sensei. Plus, he still got to demonstrate his own fighting abilities. There are hints of this in Karate Kid: Legends, but not enough.

Daniel feels more like an afterthought in the new movie than he does the franchise’s main character. It makes sense to allocate a lot of the movie’s runtime to explore Li’s story, but Cobra Kai laid the blueprint for how Macchio’s return could have been handled a lot better. Hopefully, Karate Kid: Legends does well enough that Ralph Macchio can return as Daniel LaRusso again and get a better role next time.