Behind the Scenes of Cobra Kai: Unraveling the Mystery of the Missing Karate Kid Star
By There is one legacy actor from The Karate Kid who does not appear in the final season of Cobra Kai – however, showrunner Hayden Schlossberg mentions it is not for a lack of effort.
Warning: Spoilers for the final part of Cobra Kai season 6 below!
While a multitude of characters from The Karate Kid 1, 2, and 3 make appearances throughout Cobra Kai, some fans believe The Next Karate Kid may not fit into the official storyline – even though Mr. Miyagi is indeed the mentor who instructs Hilary Swank’s character, Julie Pierce. However, after Jackie Chan, the mentor from the 2010 Karate Kid remake, was presented as the lead in Karate Kid: Legends alongside Ralph Macchio, a cameo from Swank seemed a bit more plausible.
Unfortunately, Swank does not feature in the final five episodes of Cobra Kai season 6– much to the disappointment of dedicated fans who were holding out until the very end.
“We discuss all options. That’s clearly one of the major legacy characters that did not appear in Cobra Kai, and we explored that. We communicated about it – the potential of her involvement. The short answer is it simply wasn’t meant to be. As writers and creators, there are no guarantees of anything.”
The fourth installment in the Karate Kid series showcased Mr. Miyagi taking Julie on as his new apprentice in a different setting – even though it wasn’t exactly favored by critics at the time. The film has since become a cult classic.
“When we started Cobra Kai, we weren’t assured that Thomas Ian Griffith would return to perform or anything. So, you hope for certain outcomes…