Posted in: Netflix, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: action, bleeding cool, cable, cobra kai, Daniel LaRusso, drama, elisabeth shue, Johnny Lawrence, karate, karate kid, kreese, martin kove, miguel, netflix, preview, Ralph Macchio, season 3, streaming, teaser, television, trailer, tv, william zabka

Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid Cast Reunion Looks to Sweep Hunger's Leg

If there's one thing that series creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg aren't afraid to do its dip into the "Karate Kid" film franchise to bring back some familiar faces for Cobra Kai if it works for the story (more on that in a minute). In fact, the upcoming third season finds Johnny (William Zabka) and Daniel (Ralph Macchio) putting aside their differences to work together to take down Martin Kove's Kreese- but to do that, he'll need help from The Karate Kid Part II characters Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto).

But if you're actor/"virtual influencer" Josh Gad, you don't have to worry about storylines or things like that. Instead, he can cram as many folks from Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid, and more that he wants (and it does get a bit crowded at points). So to check out the creative minds behind the show and the original film as well as Macchio, Zabka, Elisabeth Shue, Tony O'Dell, Ron Thomas, Randee Heller, Juli Fields, and more look back on the film's lasting influence as well as how the sequel series carries on that legacy, feel free to enjoy the full reunion below- and make sure to drop a donation to Action Against Hunger here. Oh, and make sure to stick around until the end for… the shocking twist!

In August, Hurwitz revealed that all of the film trilogy's characters are potentially in play (as it clearly appears in the brief season 3 scene above): "We love The Karate Kid trilogy and anyone who has seen Seasons 1 and 2 has seen us make references to all three of the original Karate Kid films. And we also say that it's our belief that anything that has happened in a movie Mr. Miyagi was in, which includes The Next Karate Kid, is part of the Miyagi-Verse and our series takes place in the Miyagi-Verse." Hurwitz continued, "Any character who has lived within this Miyagi-Verse has potential to show up at some point on Cobra Kai and I can say that the three of us, as writers, have literally discussed pretty much every person who has appeared in those films, from these large characters you're talking about, like the Terry Silvers of the world, to the most minor characters who had one or two lines."

COBRA KAI Season 3 finds everyone reeling in the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between their dojos, which has left Miguel in a precarious condition. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance. The soul of the Valley is at stake, and the fate of every student and sensei hangs in the balance.

That said, as fun as it is to bring these characters back for the fans it's important that the characters they use bring something meaningful to the series' overall narrative: "We view that as all characters who live in our universe and, at any moment in time, have the potential to show up as long as they're relevant to the present-day story that we're telling and don't feel like they're thrown in there for cameo purposes or for simply for nostalgia's sake," Hurwitz explained. "There needs to be a real, dramatic reason [in] present-day why any of these characters would be relevant to our story. I can say that, going forward, we should expect more characters from The Karate Kid films to return but I can't say who or when or pretty much anything beyond that."

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