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There's one Karate Kid legacy actor who doesn't show up in the final season of Cobra Kai - but showrunner Hayden Schlossberg says it's not for a lack of trying.
Warning: Spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 below!
While a plethora of characters from The Karate Kid 1, 2, and 3 show up throughout Cobra Kai, some fans thought The Next Karate Kid wasn't part of the canon - even though Mr. Miyagi is indeed the sensei who trains Hilary Swank's Julie Pierce. But after Jackie Chan, the sensei in the 2010 Karate Kid reboot, was announced as the star of Karate Kid: Legends alongside Ralph Macchio, a cameo from Swank seemed a bit more likely.
Sadly, Swank does not appear in the final five episodes of Cobra Kai season 6– much to the dismay of us franchise super fans who were holding out until the very end.
"We talk about all possibilities. That's obviously one of the big legacy characters that didn't end up in Cobra Kai, and it was something that we talked about. It was something that we communicated - the possibilities of her being a part of it. The long story short is it wasn't going to happen. As writers and creators, there's no guarantees of anything."
The fourth film in the Karate Kid franchise saw Mr. Miyagi take on Julie as his new protege in a new state - though it wasn't exactly loved by critics at the time. The film has since become a cult classic.
"When we entered into Cobra Kai, we weren't guaranteed that Thomas Ian Griffith was gonna return to acting or anything. So, you hope for things and then you find out what the reality is and then you make the best story. Our hope is that there's more Karate Kid stories in the future. There's more opportunities to see Julie Pierce maybe in a different iteration or story. But it wasn't gonna happen with this season."
Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 is out now. For more, check out our chat with Ralph Macchio about continuing the legacy with Karate Kid: Legends, or, check out our Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 review.
