Karate Kid: Legends is giving Jackie Chan the chance to play Mr. Han again for the first time in 15 years, and one of the benefits of the character’s unexpected return is that it can finally solve an ongoing mystery about Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi. For a long while, Chan’s 2010 effort was a standalone project among all the Karate Kid movies, as it was originally intended as a remake of 1984’s The Karate Kid. As such, Mr. Han began as a direct counterpart to Morita’s character and remained that way for a long time.
However, when Karate Kid: Legends is released, the once-remake’s integration into the main Karate Kid and Cobra Kai timeline means both respective canons will be the same. Thanks to this meta and quirky development, Mr. Han has been retroactively made incredibly similar to Mr. Miyagi, rather than just serving as a traditional reimagining of the character. While the death of Pat Morita in 2005 means the two actors can’t shoot a scene together, Legends can connect their characters in other ways.
Karate Kid: Legends Can Reveal Mr. Han’s First Name After The Reboot Movie Didn’t
Chan’s 2010 movie only ever referred to his character as Mr. Han
Just like the 1984 original, the young protagonist’s martial arts teacher is only ever referred to by his last name in 2010’s The Karate Kid. So, just as Morita’s character was only initially known as Mr. Miyagi, Mr. Han’s first name is never revealed in his debut. Mr. Miyagi’s first name was first referenced in the 1986 sequel, The Karate Kid Part II. Therefore, it makes sense that Mr. Han’s development followed the same pace as Miyagi’s. Sadly, a planned sequel to Chan’s 2010 effort fell apart, so now it’s up to Karate Kid: Legends to make the big reveal.
Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker never had a reason to find out Mr. Han’s first name. Although he starts to become a father figure to him, Mr. Han is primarily Dre’s teacher in the first movie. As such, a student will rarely address their teacher by anything other than a surname preceded by an honorific. It wasn’t until Mortia’s second movie when Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso met his sensei’s family that the information became relevant. Because Mr. Han is not Daniel’s teacher and never was, Legends will need to give Macchio’s character a more suitable way to address Mr. Han.
Karate Kid: Legends Can Also Clear Up Any Confusion Around Mr. Miyagi’s First Name
Mr. Miyagi has 2 possible first names (but neither might be real)
The Karate Kid Part II declares that Mr. Miyagi’s first name is Nariyoshi. The movie gives its audience no reason to believe this information is false, and the name is even what’s written on Mr. Miyagi’s headstone in Cobra Kai. However, 1994’s The Next Karate Kid gives Mr. Miyagi the first name of Keisuke. At the time, this was interpreted either as a continuity error or an intention retcon. With his first name being re-established as Nariyoshi in Cobra Kai season 1, it seemed the writers had another change of heart, but Cobra Kai season 6 muddied the waters again.
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Jackie Chan’s Karate Kid Movie Already Explained A Big Cobra Kai Season 6 Absence
The 2010 remake of The Karate Kid is now part of the Miyagi-verse, which means it can account for something that’s missing from Cobra Kai.
The Netflix legacy sequel show reveals in its final season that Mr. Miyagi’s official passport states his first name is Keisuke, not Nariyoshi. This twist is clearly an intentional way of Cobra Kai deepening Mr. Miyagi’s mysterious past. It’s unknown if the show will resolve this riddle before it ends, or whether that task will be left to the upcoming movie. If it’s the latter, it could turn out that Mr. Han knew Mr. Miyagi, and that he’s able to settle the debate once and for all in Karate Kid: Legends.