“Cobra Kai” may be ending, but the next chapter of the “Karate Kid” franchise is just beginning.
“Cobra Kai” — a Netflix spinoff series that follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as they train the next generation of karate prodigies — wrapped up its sixth and final season on Feb. 13. The season was divided into three parts, the first of which hit Netflix July 18, 2024.
Macchio, who has played the titular karate kid since 1984, will now star in a new film in the “Karate Kid” franchise, “Karate Kid: Legends,” alongside Jackie Chan, set for release in theaters May 30, 2025.
Macchio is the only confirmed cast member in both the 2025 film and “Cobra Kai.” But will the storylines connect?
While both the film and show wrapped around the same time, according to Macchio, “Cobra Kai” co-creator Josh Heald previously told TODAY.com the new “Karate Kid” film had no effect on the writing of Season Six.
“It didn’t impact it at all,” Heald said. “We’re telling our story that is finishing the story we set out to tell when we began Season One production back in 2017. And this is the ultimate realization of that story.”
Heald also clarified to ScreenRant that while “Cobra Kai” Season Six “doesn’t set up the movie,” thecharacter of Daniel is “the piece that does tie” the two projects.
“But there’s nothing from a storytelling or a character journey in our season that directly feeds into that project,” he said.
Ahead of “Cobra Kai” Season Six, Part Three’s premiere on Feb. 13, Ralph Macchio told TODAY.com that “Karate Kid: Legends” “takes place a few years after the events of ‘Cobra Kai.'”
“We land Daniel LaRusso in ‘Cobra Kai’ in a way that when we see him in ‘Karate Kid: Legends,’ it makes sense that that’s where he is. And then we through line little things he says that make sense from what we saw on ‘Cobra Kai,’ without it being a continuation of ‘Cobra Kai,'” Macchio said.
Without spoiling the entire finale — though you can click here for a full breakdown of it — the Netflix show ends with Daniel accepting his role as a sensei and making peace with his polar opposite, Johnny.
Macchio and Zabka’s last scene together represented “the perfect bookend for the first day of shooting on the original ‘Karate Kid’ movie,” Macchio previously told TODAY.com. But he doesn’t see it as a goodbye for the two characters.
“We don’t look at it that way. It’s sort of like, see you later,” Macchio said. “Because this franchise does not give up, just like Cobra Kai never dies and neither do these characters. So we’ll see what’s next up around the bend.”
“I think our last words were, to each other, ‘Have a b—-in’ summer,'” Zabka added.
What is ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ about?
The new “Karate Kid” installment was written by Rob Lieber. Both the movie and “Cobra Kai” are distributed by Sony.
The 2025 movie will be the sixth “Karate Kid” film in the franchise. Macchio starred in the first three “Karate Kid” films, and Hilary Swank led “The Next Karate Kid” in 1994 alongside Pat Morita, who reprised his role of Mr. Miyagi.
In 2010, the series picked up again with a new cast, setting and martial arts style. Jaden Smith played 12-year-old Dre, who moves to China and learns kung fu from his building’s maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan).
“Karate Kid: Legends” confirms that the original film and the 2010 reboot are set in the same universe. A December 2024 trailer for the upcoming film shows Mr. Han seeking out Daniel LaRusso to help his student, Li, played by Ben Wang.
“Li means to me what you meant to Sensei Miyagi,” Han tells Daniel in the trailer.
Mr. Han and Daniel team up to teach Li both kung fu and karate. The film’s premise teases that Li will merge “their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.”
Filming wrapped around June 2024, Macchio shared on Instagram in a post honoring the 40th anniversary of “The Karate Kid.”
