Karate Child: Legends is the most recent installment within the Karate Child franchise, releasing shortly after Cobra Kai completed its six-season run on Netflix. The Karate Child sequence has remained alive because the authentic 1984 movie starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. The movie led to a trilogy adopted by 1994’s The Subsequent Karate Child, a sequel starring Hilary Swank. In 2010, the sequence was rebooted with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, introducing kung fu into the franchise’s canon.
In 2018, a lot of the unique forged returned for Cobra Kai, a Netflix sequence that includes the return of Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence as they prepare a brand new era of scholars. Cobra Kai aired its finale in February 2025, however that wasn’t the tip of the franchise. Legends premiered on Might 30, introducing Li Fong as the subsequent prodigy throughout the Karate Child universe. Whereas the movie was launched only some months after Cobra Kai’s ending, it takes place a couple of years after the present’s finale.
Karate Child: Legends Takes Place 3 Years After Cobra Kai’s Ending
Legends Is A New Story That is Utterly Separate From The Netflix Collection
Legends unites Chan’s Mr. Han and Macchio’s LaRusso for the primary time, bringing collectively Han’s faculty of kung fu with Daniel’s Miyagi-Do. Daniel has been educating Miyagi-Do for a number of years because of Cobra Kai, however he appears to be like barely completely different in Legends. He has an extended haircut and appears to be at a special level in his life from the Cobra Kai finale. In keeping with Macchio, there’s an evidence for that. Talking with Selection, Macchio stated that Legends takes place “three years” after Cobra Kai, since Macchio wished to ensure it match with Daniel’s journey.
“It was not a fast determination, as a result of it was about defending the Daniel LaRusso character, and discovering the place he can be at that time, after which defending the entire legacy within the Miyagi-verse. As soon as we have been capable of line that up, for the Cobra Kai story to guide into the brand new movie — although they’re separate ecosystems — all of it made sense for me. Then, working with Jackie was simply tremendous thrilling. I began this on the massive display screen. How cool is it to get it again to the massive display screen?”
Whereas the movie is after the Netflix sequence, it has virtually no connection to it, aside from a fast cameo from Johnny on the movie’s ending. It is by no means talked about by Daniel, so audiences who’ve by no means seen Cobra Kai will not miss something. Nonetheless, followers of the sequence could also be disenchanted that the movie basically ignores the present’s occasions.
Karate Child: Legends Takes Place in 2023 Primarily based On The Timeline
The Movie Would Take Place Three Years From When Cobra Kai Ended Canonically
Whereas Cobra Kai aired from 2018-2025, the present by no means adopted that timeline. The sequence did not embrace vital time jumps in between seasons, as it could usually choose up instantly from when the final season ended. Plus, most of the youthful characters are in highschool, they usually do not graduate till the sequence finale. Season 6’s Sekai Taikai takes place in 2020, that means the present really ended 5 years earlier than its actual premiere date.
Since Legends takes place three years after Cobra Kai‘s ending, this implies the movie is ready in 2023. Maybe this explains why Cobra Kai is not referenced within the movie. The youthful characters like Miguel, Robbie, Tory, and Samantha might be at drastically completely different factors of their lives, and the movie must fill within the gaps for individuals who have seen the sequence. It is best to maintain the concentrate on Li for now, and presumably herald different Cobra Kai characters later.
How Lengthy After The 2010 Film Does Karate Child: Legends Take Place?
There’s A Vital Quantity Of Time Between The 2010 Movie And Legends
2010’s The Karate Child wasn’t initially deliberate as a part of the principle universe, and was meant to be a free remake of the unique movie. Nonetheless, Chan’s return as Mr. Han in Legends retcons the movie, making it the fifth installment throughout the franchise. Within the 2010 movie, Han was a upkeep employee who returns to kung fu to coach Smith’s Dre. In Legends, Han now operates a busy kung fu faculty, the place he educated Li earlier than he moved to New York Metropolis.
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Which Cobra Kai Characters Karate Child Legends’ Li Fong Might Beat In A Combat
Li Fong would be the latest pupil within the Karate Child franchise, however he already has a couple of benefits over a number of college students from Cobra Kai.
Primarily based on the timeline, there’s a 13-year hole between Legends and the 2010 movie, which might clarify how Mr. Han had time to develop his kung fu faculty right into a profitable enterprise. Dre is surprisingly by no means talked about on this movie, regardless of Dre supposedly being the Daniel to his Mr. Miyagi. The Karate Child franchise goes again a long time, and it will be attention-grabbing to see if it grows farther from Karate Child: Legends.
Karate Child: Legends
7/10
- Launch Date
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Might 30, 2025
- Runtime
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94 minutes
- Director
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Jonathan Entwistle
- Writers
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Rob Lieber