The Karate Kid (franchise)

The Karate Kid (1984) Daniel LaRusso and his mother have just moved to Reseda, Los Angeles from Newark, New Jersey at the start of the school year. Befriending classmate Ali Mills, he comes into conflict with Ali's ex-boyfriend and star pupil of the "Cobra Kai" dojo Johnny Lawrence and his gang. After being beaten up by the Cobra Kai gang in an after-school fight, Daniel finds an unlikely friend and karate sensei in his apartment complex's handyman, Mr. Miyagi, a proficient karate master. Making a deal with Johnny's merciless sensei, John Kreese, to end the fighting, Miyagi trains Daniel to compete at the All-Valley Karate Tournament. The Karate Kid Part II (1986) Immediately following the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny is attacked by his furious sensei, John Kreese, in the parking lot. Mr. Miyagi intervenes, rescuing Johnny and passively humiliating Kreese in the process. Six months later, Miyagi receives a letter about his ailing father and plans to return to his home village on Okinawa Island. With Daniel in tow, Miyagi's past catches up with him as an old rivalry with a former friend is reignited. The Karate Kid Part III (1989) Six months after the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out John Kreese visits his Vietnam War comrade, rich businessman Terry Silver. Silver sends Kreese on vacation to Tahiti, promising to re-establish the Cobra Kai dojo and get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Meanwhile, Daniel and Miyagi have returned home from Okinawa to find Daniel's apartment building being demolished and his mother back in New Jersey taking care of a sick relative; Miyagi invites Daniel to stay with him. When Miyagi refuses to train Daniel to defend his title at the tournament, Daniel happens across Silver who offers to train him Cobra Kai-style. The Next Karate Kid (1994) Mr. Miyagi (the only character from the previous films to return) travels to Boston, Massachusetts in order to attend a commemorative service for the Japanese-American soldiers who fought in the 442nd Infantry Regiment in World War II. While there, he reacquaints with Louisa Pierce, the widow of his commanding officer. Louisa introduces him to his rebellious teenage granddaughter Julie, whose anger issues – resulting from her parents' deaths – make life difficult for Louisa. Offering to help, Miyagi sends Louisa to his home in Los Angeles for respite while he works to mentor Julie. Julie initially rebuffs Miyagi's help, but warms to him after coming into conflict with the leader of her school's shady security fraternity, Ned. The Karate Kid (2010) In this remake of the 1984 film (later retconned, placing it in the same fictional universe of the original films), Dre Parker and his mother move from Detroit to Beijing after she transfers jobs from a car factory in the city. He befriends Meiying, a young musician who goes to his school, but draws the unwanted attention of Cheng, a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Meiying's. Cheng and his friends relentlessly bully Dre at school to keep him away from Meiying, resulting in a fight on a school field trip where Dre is beaten up before being saved by his apartment building's maintenance man, Mr. Han. After failing to end the bullying by talking with Cheng and students's ruthless kung fu teacher Li, Mr. Han agrees to train Dre to compete at the upcoming open kung fu Tournament and defeat Cheng. The film was originally said to be a Karate Kid film that the characters in the original films and in the Cobra Kai series would have watched, essentially a film made inside the Karate Kid universe instead of made about the said universe. The subsequent film Karate Kid Legends retconned this idea and tied it back into the main Karate Kid film series. Karate Kid: Legends (2025) A sequel to both the 2010 film and the original films, Mr. Han’s great-nephew and student Li Fong moves from Beijing to New York City with his mother after the death of his brother in a kung fu-related attack. Li befriends Mia Lipani, daughter of pizza shop owner and former local boxing champion Victor Lipani, bringing him into conflict with Mia’s ex-boyfriend Conor Day, a local karate champion. Li trains Victor in kung fu to aid him in a boxing match to pay off his debts, but following Victor's illegal defeat he decides to enter the Five Boroughs Karate Tournament with Mr. Han's encouragement. Mr. Han visits Daniel LaRusso and invites him to New York to train Li in both karate and kung fu for the Five Boroughs. ==Television series==

The Karate Kid (1989) In this animated children's television series, a miniature shrine with mystical properties has been stolen from its resting place in Okinawa. Joined by Taki Tamurai, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are tasked with locating it and returning it home, traveling the globe on a series of adventures. The characters were not voiced by the original film actors, although Pat Morita voiced the opening narration. With regard to Cobra Kai, executive producer and co-creator Jon Hurwitz revealed the animated series is not canon, however the shrine from the series appeared as an easter egg in Chozen Toguchi's Okinawa dojo during the third season of Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai (2018–2025) 34 years after the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence, now in his 50s, has just lost his job. After getting arrested for rescuing his teenage neighbor Miguel Diaz from a group of bullies, then getting cut-loose and disowned by his stepfather, Johnny agrees to teach Miguel karate and reopens the Cobra Kai dojo, attracting social outcasts who build their self-confidence under his unorthodox tutelage. Meanwhile, Daniel LaRusso owns a successful chain of car dealerships and is happily married to his wife Amanda but struggles to keep a balanced life without the guidance of his now-deceased mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Johnny's estranged and troubled son, Robby Keene, hoping to get back at his father, comes under Daniel's wing – initially not knowing Robby's parentage – giving Robby a job at his car dealership and teaching him Miyagi-Do karate. Daniel and Johnny come into conflict after Cobra Kai's return is made public, while Daniel's daughter Samantha gets caught in the middle. According to Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the only characters that they would explore in the series were ones who featured in the first four films. The creatives stated that they internally reference these characters as a part of the "Miyagi-verse", and explained that they are those who interacted directly with Mr. Miyagi. ==Cast and characters==

Development The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on the life of its screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen. At age 17, after the 1964 New York World's Fair, Kamen was beaten up by a gang of bullies. He thus began to study martial arts in order to defend himself. Kamen was unhappy with his first teacher, who taught martial arts as a tool for violence and revenge. He moved on to study Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate under a Japanese teacher who did not speak English, but was himself a student of Chōjun Miyagi. Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz, and D. B. Sweeney. The studio originally wanted the role of Mr. Miyagi to be played by Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but Mifune did not speak English. Abandoned projects In a 2020 interview with Collider, William Zabka revealed that Pat Morita pitched him an idea in 2005, for a fifth film. The plot would have revolved around Johnny Lawrence who is now a doctor and tasked with caregiving for Mr. Miyagi; who is in the final stages of his life and whose health is failing him. During the early days of development, Morita died and the project was abandoned. In January 2022, Ralph Macchio revealed that he had previously been approached in 2012 about the potential for a The Karate Kid and Rocky crossover film. Intended to be directed by John G. Avildsen, the plot would have involved Daniel LaRusso's daughter and Rocky Balboa, Jr. opening a dojo together. Macchio stated that he and Milo Ventimiglia were pitched the idea, but described the concept as "awful". After Macchio expressed his disinterest in the story, the project subsequently fell into development hell before being abandoned in favor of Creed and Cobra Kai. ==Additional production and crew details==

Box office performance The franchise as a whole has been a box office success. Critical and public response Except for the 1984 and 2010 films, the other films in the franchise received mixed or negative reviews. Cobra Kai received a consistently positive reception. Cultural influence The series has been credited for popularizing Karate in the United States. ==In other media==

Broadway In January 2020, a Broadway musical adaptation of The Karate Kid was revealed to be in development. Amon Miyamoto serves as director, with an accompanying novel being written by the original film's screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen. Drew Gasparini serves as the lyricist and composer of the score, while Keone & Mari Madrid choreograph the play. Kumiko Yoshii, Michael Wolk serve as producers, with The Kinoshita Group. The cast includes Jovanni Sy as Mr. Miyagi, John Cardoza as Daniel LaRusso, Kate Baldwin as Lucille LaRusso, Alan H. Green as John Kreese, Jake Bentley Young as Johnny Lawrence, Jetta Juriansz as Ali Mills and Luis-Pablo Garcia as Freddie Fernandez. The musical debuted in 2022. Merchandise The film spawned a franchise of related items and memorabilia such as action figures, head bands, posters, and T-shirts. A novelization was written by B. B. Hiller and published in 1984. The novel had a scene that was in the rehearsal when Daniel encounters Johnny during school at lunch. Also at the end, there was a battle between Miyagi and Kreese in the parking lot after the tournament which was the original ending for the film and used as the beginning of The Karate Kid Part II. Hiller would also write novelizations for the second and third films. A storybook based on the second film, written by Christopher Brown, was also released. On May 7, 2019, The Karate Kid: The Classic Illustrated Storybook was published by Quirk Books under their Pop Classics series. It retold the events of the first film with art by Kim Smith. In 2015, toy company Funko revived The Karate Kid action figures. Two versions of character Daniel Larusso, a version of character Johnny Lawrence and a version of Mr. Miyagi were part of the line. The toys were spotted at retailers Target and Amazon.com. In 2021 and 2022, the toy company Playmates Toys released a series of crossover Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vs. Cobra Kai two packs which featured two action figures, one character from each respective franchise, in opposition to each other. In 2023, the toy company Hasbro released a series of Power Rangers X Cobra Kai crossover action figures that tied characters of both franchises together. Cobra Kai characters like Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence wore ninja outfits similar to the Ninjetti/Ninja Mode costumes from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' 1995 film and third season, while Putty Patrollers wore skeleton Halloween costumes like those worn by the Cobra Kai gang as seen in the first Karate Kid film. In 2023, Asmodee released the board game Cobra Kai: Road to Victory. Video games A video game loosely based on the first two films was developed by Atlus and published by LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. A video game based on the second film, titled The Karate Kid Part II: The Computer Game, was released in 1986. A mobile game based on the 2010 film was released for iOS devices by Sony Pictures on April 2, 2010. Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, a video game based on the television series Cobra Kai, was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in October 2020, while Microsoft Windows version was released in January 2021. A mobile game entitled Cobra Kai: Card Fighter was released on iOS and Android devices in March 2021. A sequel to Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues developed by Flux Games and published by GameMill Entertainment titled Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising was released on November 8, 2022, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows via Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Characters and elements from Cobra Kai have appeared in the Roblox experience Netflix Nextworld. On September 20, 2024, a 2D sprite-art-based beat 'em up game based on the original film trilogy, titled The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam. Comic book A 4-issue comic book miniseries entitled ''Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues - Johnny's Story'' was published by IDW Publishing and released between October 2019 and January 2020, and was subsequently collected in trade paperback on July 8, 2020. It was written by Denton J. Tipton, with art by Kagan McLeod and colors by Luis Antonio Delgado. Books In 2022, Ralph Macchio published the memoir Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me (Dutton), in which he reflects upon the making of and legacy of the Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai. Also in 2022, the behind-the-scenes book The Kick-A** Book of Cobra Kai was written by Rachel Bertsche and published by HarperCollins. ==Notes==