The trailer for 2025’s Karate Kid: Legends teases a unique entry in the long-running franchise, as it will retcon 2010’s The Karate Kid – a kung fu-centric remake of the 1984 original – into the mainline series. It will do this pretty easily, by bringing together Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) with kung-fu master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) to mentor the latter’s young student Li (Ben Wang). In addition, Karate Kid: Legends will directly pick up after Cobra Kai‘s ending, which is why the first footage has some fans wondering. Based on the trailer for Karate Kid: Legends, fans are in for an action-packed martial arts film but there may also be spoilers for how Netflix’s Cobra Kai will end.
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What The Karate Kid: Legends Trailer Shows, & How It Could Connect To Cobra Kai’s Ending
The Karate Kid: Legends trailer shows Mr. Han paying a visit to Daniel LaRusso at the Miyagi-Do dojo, with the school appearing to be vacant save for Daniel himself. Right off the bat, this brief interaction hints to a number of potential events stemming from the ending of Cobra Kai, beginning with Daniel’s own retirement from teaching karate. At the beginning of Cobra Kai season 6, Daniel tells his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) that he intends for the martial arts mega tournament known as the Sekai Taikai to be his “karate swan song.” The fact that that Miyagi-Do appears to no longer be teeming with a vast collection of students could suggest that Daniel has made good on that promise.
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That isn’t to say that the teachings of Miyagi-Do will come to an end when Cobra Kai season 6 wraps up. In his apparent retirement, Daniel may have decided to pass on the mantle of Miyagi-Do’s sensei to his co-instructor Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), which would suggest that Daniel and Johnny finally become friends at last in Cobra Kai‘s finale.
Alternatively, Daniel may have passed his Miyagi-Do mantle onto one of his high-ranking students, such as Tory Nichols (Peyton List), Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), or Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan). With several Miyagi-Do students preparing for college in Cobra Kai season 6, many of Daniel’s karate students are readying themselves to move on with their lives after the Sekai Taikai. Even in stepping down from teaching karate and with a number of students departing, Daniel likely would want the legacy of Miyagi-Do to live on possibly at a new location, so it would make sense for him to hand the baton over to either Johnny or one of his most skilled students.
Cobra Kai Has Enormous Stakes In Season 6 Part 3
The ultimate outcome of the Sekai Taikai is one of the biggest question marks of the final stretch of Cobra Kai season 6. The tournament was already high on inter-school tension and competitiveness, especially with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) returning to pull strings. However, the internationally revered tournament absolutely crumbles after a riotous battle among fighters breaks out, which ended with the death of Kwon Jae-Sung (Brandon H. Lee).
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Carrying on with the Sekai Taikai at all at that point seems next to impossible, but there is still a battle among the rival schools of Miyagi-Do, Cobra Kai, and Iron Dragons to be resolved. It’s entirely possible that the Sekai Taikai might be suspended or cancelled altogether after Kwon’s death, which could leave the three rival schools to face each other in an even more intense showdown outside of the tournament.
Presumably, the main goal of Daniel, Johnny, and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) will be to defeat John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver for good, and bring the students and other teachers of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do under the their wing. The Karate Kid: Legends trailer seemingly hints to Miyagi-Do’s ultimate victory, the three schools living in harmony, and Daniel finally feeling free to retire as a sensei.
Why Does Daniel Return In Karate Kid: Legends?
Despite Daniel’s prospective karate swan song in Cobra Kai season 6, he also has some unfinished business with his own mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Upon learning that Mr. Miyagi had a rougher past than he realized (including being a former Sekai Taikai competitor), Daniel becomes determined to learn the full truth about the man who taught him karate. While Daniel might get the full story before Cobra Kai season 6 concludes, the arrival of Mr. Miyagi’s old friend Mr. Han could possibly show Daniel even more.
Additionally, Daniel’s return to teaching alongside Mr. Han might be, in his mind, a one-off, with Daniel getting a chance to learn a bit of kung fu, and in turn, help expand the martial arts knowledge of Li with the teachings of kung fu and karate. In an absolute sense, Daniel is far too devoted to martial arts and the wisdom of Mr. Miyagi to ever truly retire from karate for good. The Karate Kid: Legends trailer might be intentionally teasing audiences with that, alluding to the end of an era for Daniel LaRusso on Cobra Kai but the beginning of a new one for him and The Karate Kid universe.
Cobra Kai season six – part three premieres on Netflix on February 13, 2025, while Karate Kid: Legends will debut in theaters on May 30th, 2025, just three months later.
