A few weeks have passed sinceCobra Kaiconcluded its six-season run with an epic and emotional finale that seems to have satisfied fans all over the planet. Johnny finally got his victory,Kreese and Silver met their fate, and Daniel was able to honor Miyagi by being the better man. Luckily, Daniel’s sensei returned to provide a few words of wisdom through the magic of CGI and AI at just the moment he needed it. The decision to bring back the most classic of characters was not without controversy, and nowRalph Macchio, who has played Daniel LaRusso throughout the entire franchise, reveals that he expected the backlash but went through with it nonetheless.
Macchio spoke toThe Directat Paleyfest and addressed Miyagi’s controversial return on theNetflixmartial arts comedy hit. It seems that, regardless of how it looked, he wanted to have his moment alongside his teacher in the series that revived the franchise:
“I mean, listen, I have a little pushback on it. I don’t think, you know, we didn’t have the budget to—my main concern is, I mean, my main thing is I wanted Daniel to be fighting side-by-side with Mr. Miyagi. As far as a dialogue scene, for me, it was more about them together and more about the thing that releases it, it’s all in Daniel’s mind. It’s not really happening. It’s in his mind. So you have a little leeway in. So I think it’s all in the message, if not perfect.”
Ralph Macchio Would Love to Do a ‘Cobra Kai’ Movie on One Condition
After all, Cobra Kai never dies.
The actor also talked about Miyagi’s most prominent sequence in the show. The character’s CGI-AI version first appeared when it was revealed that Miyagi landed the death blow to another contender at the Sekai Taikai tournament. Fans were ecstatic, but it was perhaps because the shot only lasted a few seconds. In the dream sequence where Daniel and Miyagi fight the bad guys in skeleton costumes,the AI resource is more… prominent. This is what Macchio said about this sequence:
“We were talking all season about Daniel going down this sort of dark path of mystery, of, you know, what was, what he didn’t know about his mentor, and that took him down a rabbit hole, and how, in essence, in his own mind, he had to suss this out and gain wisdom, even without the ability to have him there. So it was fun to do, we were on an insane, tight schedule. We had about an hour and a half to shoot that whole scene with the skeletons and it was emotional, but it was nice to have.”
Is the New ‘Karate Kid’ Movie Connected to ‘Cobra Kai’?
The martial arts franchise that began in 1984 with John G. Avildsen’s terrificThe Karate Kidis set to make its official return on July 14, 2025, withKarate Kid: Legends. The movie stars Macchio and Jackie Chan, who are both reprising their roles from the franchise as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han, respectively.Legendsofficially takes place in theKarate Kiduniverse and makes 2010’s reboot canon.
Karate Kid: Legendsis connected toCobra Kai, although it may only be through the presence of a single character. There’s Daniel LaRusso, who continues his path to becoming a sensei and following the teachings of Mr. Miyagi. But the film could also feature other connections toCobra Kaithat we just don’t know about yet. All will be revealed when the movie is released in May.
Source:The Direct
