Cobra Kai Ignores Mr. Miyagi’s Other Karate Student

Cobra Kai references The Karate Kid, but doesn’t quite acknowledge the franchise’s entire legacy. Here’s why the series ignores The Next Karate Kid.

You Are Reading :Cobra Kai Ignores Mr Miyagis Other Karate Student

Cobra Kai repeatedly cites its inspiration, The Karate Kid, but doesn’t quite acknowledge the full cinematic legacy of the 1984 franchise-starter, directed by John G. Avildsen. Overall, Netflix’s TV series continuation focuses on all the male bravado that fuels the original movie franchise, with the exception being the fourth installment released in 1994 – The Next Karate Kid starring Hillary Swank. Here’s how Mr. Miyagi’s female protege, Julie Pierce, could be incorporated into a future Cobra Kai storyline.

At its heart, Cobra Kai focuses primarily on the conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), the respective protagonist and villain of the original film. Cobra Kai occasionally cites themes from the 1986 sequel The Karate Part II, primarily to establish the turbulent backstory between Johnny and his Cobra Kai mentor, John Kreese (Martin Kove). There’s a figurative tug-of-war between Johnny and Daniel at the heart of the show, leaving audiences to wonder if they can truly ever resolve their differences. And that same thematic premise is applied to the series’ young supporting characters, who learn about life and loss through their experiences at Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Importantly, Cobra Kai doesn’t focus solely on male perspectives but rather strengthens the narrative through stories involving Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler), Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), Aisha Robinson (Nichole Brown), Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio), and Tory Nichols (Peyton List).

Cobra Kai naturally references the legacy of Daniel’s mentor, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), but has entirely ignored the events depicted in The Next Karate Kid. In the fourth franchise film, Mr. Miyagi – a veteran of World War II – attends a ceremony for Japanese-American soldiers in Boston, and ends up meeting the teenage granddaughter, Julie, of his former friend and student. Just as Daniel once needed some male guidance in his life, Julie similarly needs some help staying out of trouble. She ends up training with Mr. Miyagi, who serves as her caretaker for the time being while her mother, a widow, spends time at Mr. Miyagi’s home in Los Angeles. So why is she left out of Cobra Kai?

Cobra Kai probably hasn’t acknowledged Julie Pierce because the character has a stand-alone story. The first three movies of The Karate Kid franchise all involve Daniel and Cobra Kai, and so the Netflix continuation adheres to narratives from those films. Moving forward, Cobra Kai season 3 would be a good opportunity for the showrunners to reference Julie, as the storyline will reportedly involve Daniel traveling to Okinawa, Japan – the home city of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Assuming that Cobra Kai will properly acknowledge Mr. Miyagi’s legacy, it makes sense to acknowledge the Julie Pierce connection. In fact, a late-season reference to Swank’s character could set up a cameo opportunity for Swank in Cobra Kai season 4, which is almost certainly possible given creator Justin Hurwitz’s confirmation that the show is willing to consider using all parts of the s0-called Miyagi-Verse.

Swank doesn’t have the same career momentum that she boasted during the 2000s, but she’s still landing high-profile roles in both television and movies. She has a prominent role in the COVID-19-affected release of The Hunt and headlines the main cast for the 2020 thriller Fatale. As for a possible Cobra Kai cameo, it’s also worth considering that in recent years, Swank has become a go-to Netflix actress. She starred in the 2019 science fiction movie I Am Mother, she voiced Joey Pogo in BoJack Horseman, and she stars in more recent series Away. Appearing in Cobra Kai would fit her trajectory. Expect Swank to make some type of Cobra Kai cameo in the near future.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/cobra-kai-karate-kid-4-miyagi-student-hillary-swank/