Karate Kid: Legends‘ story is set to continue a controversial aspect of Cobra Kai thanks to the meeting between Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han. Everything we know about Karate Kid: Legends promises that the film is going to be an excellent story, bringing together two different sides of the тιтular universe. After all, Karate Kid: Legends‘ cast is spearheaded by Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, uniting the lead character of 1984’s The Karate Kid with 2010’s movie of the same name, despite the latter originally being conceived as a remake.
Now that Cobra Kai season 6’s ending has transpired, Karate Kid: Legends will naturally become the center of attention as the next installment in the long-running franchise. The film will introduce Ben Wang as Li Fong, a student being trained by Mr. Han, the latter of whom seeks out Daniel LaRusso for help. This connects Karate Kid: Legends with Cobra Kai and the original trilogy, though it also proves that a divisive aspect of the Netflix TV show will be raised, thanks to how the two characters – and separate sides of the franchise – will be linked.
Karate Kid: Legends Is Expected To Reference Mr. Miyagi Quite A Lot
Pat Morita’s Character Will Have A Big Presence In Karate Kid: Legends
Firstly, it is worth exploring how Karate Kid: Legends links to the somewhat controversial aspect of Cobra Kai: the references to Mr. Miyagi. From the first teaser trailer for Karate Kid: Legends alone, it is clear that Mr. Miyagi will have a big bearing on the story despite having pᴀssed away before the events of Cobra Kai. The first hint at Miyagi’s legacy looming over the film comes from Daniel himself, be it the exterior of the dojo where Miyagi first taught Daniel martial arts in The Karate Kid or the shrine-like image of Miyagi hanging inside.
Moreover, Karate Kid: Legends is set to link Mr. Miyagi to Mr. Han, with the latter’s dialogue in the trailer indicating that they knew each other. Finally, Miyagi is also mentioned in connection to the relationship between Mr. Han and Li. Han mentions that Li is to him what Daniel LaRusso was to Sensei Miyagi, rounding out the several connections made to Pat Morita’s character in only a two-minute trailer.
Cobra Kai Bringing Up Mr. Miyagi All The Time Eventually Became A Problem
Miyagi’s Presence In Cobra Kai Sometimes Felt Too Much
Herein lies the potential problem that Karate Kid: Legends will have in repeating the controversial repeated mentions of Miyagi in Cobra Kai. I do wish to point out that Miyagi’s various mentions in Cobra Kai were not controversial due to how they treated the legacy of the character but instead simply how often it happened. Eventually, Miyagi became a crutch that Cobra Kai relied on to deepen the story, making the more meaningful times his past was mentioned less effective due to the frequency with which it happened. For example, Cobra Kai season 6 had two Miyagi subplots.
One was his quest to retrieve a necklace from a former guard of the internment camp in which his wife and son pᴀssed away, while the other was his history with the Sekai Taikai that revealed that Miyagi killed someone during the tournament. The former plotline was beautifully wrapped up and only bolstered what was known about Miyagi from the original trilogy. The latter, however, was somewhat brushed over despite marking a big, potentially divisive departure from his character.
Having elements of Miyagi’s story be developed in Cobra Kai always made perfect sense, but it became too often for each individual subplot to have the meaning they should have…
Eventually, the Miyagi subplots of Cobra Kai simply became too frequent. Miyagi is a beloved character that many would agree is one of the most iconic in cinema history. Therefore, having elements of Miyagi’s story be developed in Cobra Kai always made perfect sense, but it became too often for each individual subplot to have the meaning they should have, something that risks being continued in Karate Kid: Legends.
How Mr. Miyagi Ties Into Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han Story In Karate Kid: Legends
Karate Kid: Legends’ Connection To Mr. Miyagi Has Already Been Hinted At
Although I have mentioned the various ties to Miyagi found in Karate Kid: Legends’ first trailer, a more concrete answer for how the character ties to Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han has been teased. Upon the release of the trailer, director Jonathan Entwistle spoke to Entertainment Weekly about delving into the Karate Kid universe and connecting what was once a remake to the original trilogy of films from the 1980s. Entwistle stated:
“Without giving too much away, I can say that Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi are the connection to Daniel. The Han family and the Miyagi family are connected all the way back to the old times. And there is a mention of this within the Karate Kid movie canon for those people who want to go looking for it.”
Of course, this led to theories and speculation from Karate Kid fans who went back to try and find the connection to Miyagi.
As it turns out, this connection could be found via a reference to one of Mr. Miyagi’s ancestors from The Karate Kid Part II. Miyagi mentions that the founder of Miyagi-do Karate, Shimpo Miyagi, was a fisherman who once drunkenly fell asleep on his boat, drifting all the way to China. There, Shimpo married a woman and had two children before returning to Okinawa and pᴀssing on the teachings of Miyagi-do.
The family Miyagi sired in China will likely be ancestors of the Han family, tying the story of Chan’s Mr. Han to Miyagi and, through him, Daniel LaRusso. Whether this theorized backstory will be outright shown in flashbacks in Karate Kid: Legends remains to be seen, but even if not, the Miyagi and Han Karate Kid connection will play a big role in the film’s story. While this may not be as divisive as Cobra Kai‘s repeated mentions of Miyagi, given the shorter-form storytelling of theatrical filmmaking, it still links the two projects.
Karate Kid: Legends Should Avoid Cobra Kai’s Most Controversial Miyagi Callback
The Film Will Hopefully Avoid One Technique
All that being said, Karate Kid: Legends could still avoid the most controversial Miyagi callback that was found in Cobra Kai. As I have already alluded to, many of Miyagi’s mentions in Cobra Kai were heartfelt and impacted the story in promising ways, but they became too frequent to be as meaningful as they were in earlier seasons. Incidentally, the more frequent the callbacks became, the more they grew in ambition, leading to a much more divisive element being used in Cobra Kai season 6: deepfakes and de-aging technology.
On two separate occasions in Cobra Kai‘s final season, the likeness of Pat Morita was implemented onto a body double using CGI. This has long been a controversial technique in Hollywood, especially when being used to “revive” ᴅᴇᴀᴅ actors or characters. While the technology was still used tastefully regarding Cobra Kai‘s story, it was not quite perfect enough to warrant being used and raising the complications of such a moment. Hopefully, Karate Kid: Legends will avoid doing so and keep the Miyagi connections as unseen developments of the iconic character’s legacy.
