12 Reasons Why Cobra Kai Is Better Than The Karate Kid Movies

Legacy sequels are all the rage these days, but there has perhaps been none better than “Cobra Kai.” A six-season TV show continuing the “Karate Kid” franchise, it mostly follows the initial Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) trilogy, and not so much “The Next Karate Kid” (which deserves more love) or the Jackie Chan remake. (In fact, “Cobra Kai” mentions Jackie Chan by name, which may be a problem for the upcoming movie in which his character Mr. Han finally meets Daniel.)

“Cobra Kai” meets Daniel and his first-movie opponent Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) again in real time, decades later, with Johnny’s life in ruins after his loss so many years ago, and Daniel a successful a car salesman. Their kids bring them into conflict again, but before long some real villains come back into the picture, notably Martin Kove’s brutal karate sensei John Kreese, and his old wartime buddy Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). As the next generation of teens get sucked into the old karate grudges from the ’80s, the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles becomes the setting for a much larger series of battles.

Could it be that the new TV series is even better than the original “Karate Kid” movies? Sure, it may look cheaper and gaudier, but when it comes to the actual story, we say yes — “Cobra Kai” is the best version of this franchise, and even better than the so-called Miyagi-verse of movies that led to it. Here are our reasons why.

Quick, which was a better show: “Doctor Who,” or “The Sarah Jane Adventures”? Did anybody like “Star Trek: Picard” better than “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (at least before the third season of “Picard” wisely opted to become the best “Next Generation” movie we never got)? Do we agree that Marvel’s “Avengers” movies tend to be better than many of the heroes’ solo adventures?

Look, just generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with a simple story about one guy trying to overcome a simple obstacle. That’s a story. But when it’s that guy plus multiple other characters, all with different objectives and loyalties, forming alliances and betraying one another, that’s a saga. Some of those individual stories might be  predictable on their own, but when their paths cross other storylines, intrigue increases. Plus if the story is one about fighting, having lots of characters means that more than just one-on-one fights are possible. How about all-out brawls? Or handicap matches? Throw in some short tempers and the fights can even take place in unlikely locations, and not just a tournament setting.

Daniel LaRusso got three “Karate Kid” movies, with a fourth on the way. Thrown in with the full cast of “Cobra Kai,” he got six seasons, as we learned along the way that there are plenty of more interesting karate apprentices and masters than the bullied kid-turned-champ-turned-car-salesman. (Check out the five strongest “Cobra Kai” senseis, ranked.)

Spoiler alert: in the “Karate Kid” movie, Daniel wins. 

Which one? All of them that he’s in. And for the two released so far in which he does not appear, the Daniel stand-in character wins. That’s because they are all basically “Rocky” movies, and mostly from the same director, John G. Avildsen.

“Cobra Kai” has to hold your attention for more than two hours, so it can’t just offer up one good guy and one bad guy, and build to a big fight where the good guy wins. It offers up multiple fights, in different combinations, and while some of them have predictable outcomes, others definitely don’t (who among us called Johnny-Daniel II ending in a double KO?). Even when you think you’ve seen every combo, the Sekai Taikai tournament offers up gimmick matches that the ’80s National Wrestling Alliance would be proud of, from round-robin, five-on-five tag team encounters to scaffold matches.

We still assume Terry Silver and John Kreese will get theirs in the end…but the fact that we can’t say for sure is part of the fun of the show.

If you go back and watch the Karate Kid movies after “Cobra Kai,” it’s shocking to see how one-note of a character Johnny Lawrence actually is. William Zabka, who got typecast as bullies in the ’80s, plays every scene at the same level. Having to learn karate can’t have been a picnic, but the joke on “How I Met Your Mother” about Johnny being the real hero of the original movie works not just because it inverts expectations, but because Johnny is such a consistent sullen creep that nobody but a sociopath could possibly find his character likable.

From the moment Zabka opens his eyes in “Cobra Kai,” though, he draws the audience in. He has the face of a guy who has seen hard times and learned tough lessons, and when he opens his mouth, he has the righteous ignorance of a man so permanently stuck on reliving his youth in his head that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. “Cobra Kai” gives almost all of its characters a chance at redemption, but most of them just feel like plot twists. Zabka’s Johnny, however, consistently undergoes real growth and change…even when it’s in the wrong direction sometimes.

If we were to compare the “Karate Kid” franchise to pro-wrestling — and we will, more than once — the original movie trilogy is like the ’80s World Wrestling Federation. Hulk Hogan takes on a big evil guy who cheats, he takes a beatdown for almost the whole match, then powers back and wins with a signature finishing move. “Cobra Kai” is more like modern-day All-Elite Wrestling, with no obvious #1 star and a large cast of fighters who use different styles, have varying attitudes, and let you cheer for whomever you like, though the storyline may give certain sympathies a little nudge in the desired direction.

Are you Team Robby? Team Miguel? Does Sam deserve a butt-whipping from Tory? Sometimes it’s not so clear, and you get to choose your fighter, so to speak. Other times, maybe both of them make good points…or terrible ones that ought to hand them both a loss. Almost everyone is wrong at some point, but very few are incapable of redemption arcs. Even arch-villain Kreese has shown a sensitive side on the show, albeit only really in flashbacks. If he’s trying to be nice in the present timeline, it’s usually a ruse, but we can’t rule out rooting for him when he stands against Silver.

“The Karate Kid Part III” ultimately follows the Richard Donner-Richard Lester Superman trilogy template that Sam Raimi would later adopt for Spider-Man — as such, it has our hero Daniel briefly breaking bad before becoming a hero again just in time to beat the real villain. It was a bit of a mess from conception, however. Writer Robert Mark Kamen wanted to break from the tournament formula, and only came back to it for the money; Martin Kove had scheduling conflicts with his “Hard Time on Planet Earth” TV series; and producers accidentally cast underage Robyn Lively as love interest for older-than-he-looks Ralph Macchio, requiring the relationship to be rewritten as platonic. Speaking of age, new villain actor Thomas Ian Griffith isn’t remotely old enough to be a Vietnam vet either.

Though it’s fun to see Daniel try to become a real badass, the contrivances required to drive a rift between him and mentor Mr. Miyagi aren’t great — if they’d only have an open conversation, they could resolve it quickly. To be fair, a lot of plot points in “Cobra Kai” work similarly. Nonetheless, the third film disappointed fans at the time.

Now, though, it serves as a crucial origin story for Griffith’s Terry Silver, the only truly irredeemable villain of the franchise, while just-friends Jessica proved crucial to Daniel meeting his wife, and his brief stint in Cobra Kai essential to maintaining that chip on his shoulder.

In every successive installment of the Daniel LaRusso “Karate Kid” trilogy, his prior movie’s love interest is missing, explained away by some brief expository dialogue. In hindsight, it plays out with major “Poochie died on the way back to his home planet” energy.

“Cobra Kai,” tasked in part with leaving no loose ends, brought back all three, and explained their subsequent movie absences in a way that made total sense because of what the show had shown of Daniel already. For all his calmness and meditative karate techniques, he’s still a hothead who jumps to conclusions, which is great for the purposes of soap-style drama. 

Misunderstandings lead to fights, and fights are why we watch this franchise to begin with, but they’re a terrible basis for romantic relationships. What does make sense is that Daniel’s eventual wife was the result of matchmaking by her cousin, Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively) — the one and only love-interest character who never actually got romantic with Daniel in the first place. Staying in the friend-zone effectively gave her immunity to any potential jealousy, and a better look at Daniel’s good side.

Previously in the Karate Kid franchise, actresses Elisabeth Shue and Hilary Swank went on to star in multiple award-nominated movies, with Swank winning two Oscars. Paul Walter Hauser, on the other hand, made his name in prestige dramas like Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell,” and only then joined the franchise as part of “Cobra Kai.” As Ray “Stingray” Porter, he’s arguably a surrogate character for the writers and the original fans — an adult who geeks out over this stuff a bit too much.

Much of “Cobra Kai” focuses on the struggles of two generations; the original ’80s characters, and their kids. Stingray is the only major character who doesn’t fit into that dichotomy at all. Rather, he’s a cautionary tale of how not to make a fandom your whole personality, and in the final season, a stuck-in-the-past example of everything Johnny now realizes he doesn’t want to be. Hauser commits to the role like his character does to the Cobra Kai dojo, proving there are no small parts, and that he is a consummate scene-stealer.

Yes, we’re bringing up the wrestling comparison again. “Cobra Kai” is a testosterone-heavy soap opera, anchored by fights with predetermined outcomes, and maintaining your interest in said fights with storyline hooks. That’s what professional wrestling has always been, though only in recent decades has it actively hired writers with TV drama experience, as opposed to just the old-school bookers, who were usually retired wrestlers with ideas for gimmicks and finishes. With some exceptions, however, like Freddie Prinze Jr. briefly scripting for WWE, the typical sports-entertainment writers aren’t exactly Robert Mark Kamen.

Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, however, have A-list credits like “Hot Tub Time Machine” and the “Harold and Kumar” films. Granted, those are comedies, but the “Hot Tub Time Machine” movies play like loose remakes of “Back to the Future” and its sequel, proving their ’80s movie cred. If indeed they ever do have to deal with out-of-touch executives, surely none are as clueless, tone-deaf, and fond of last-minute changes as Vince McMahon. With the show adding occasional surprise trips to Okinawa and Spain for new drama, as well as plenty of twists and surprise returns, its creators clearly relish the same male soap opera tropes as wrestling, but have a much larger canvas on which to paint their balletic violence and its build-ups.

Presumably, the more famous actors don’t get to decide if they won’t lose, though.

The “Karate Kid” movies have only ever had one female protagonist in Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce, and she had to fight male villains. It’s a new world now, and action movies can have heroes and baddies of all genders, so it’s great that “Cobra Kai” gives the women a chance to lead some of the storylines. It’s a shame the show never really knew what to do with the unconventional Aisha and wrote her out, but the Sam vs. Tory angle remains the most compelling of the show’s next-gen battles. Sam’s a spoiled rich girl and Tory has lived the hard-knock life, but depending on the situation, both have played babyface and heel roles in the ongoing feud. 

Meanwhile, newcomer Devon (Oona O’Brien), who turns to karate after proving her toughness at debate, of all things, remains the most compelling rookie, and season 5 finally invented a major female villain in Kreese ally Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim), who’s more complex than the dragon-lady caricature she initially seems.

Don’t call any of the non-combatant women mere love interests, either: Daniel’s wife Amanda (Courtney Henggler) struggles with him almost as much as his karate opponents do, while Miguel’s tough single mother Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) provides Johnny with important grounding, and a key reason for him to improve as a human being.

Once Kreese showed up, it was clear that familiar characters from the franchise would get new moments to shine. After a while, it seemed obvious that Terry Silver, Chozen, and even Mike Barnes were up for some reassessment. Who expected Jessica back, though? Or Daniel’s mom? Hell, this is a show that even gave new life to the character of Dennis (William Christopher Ford) from “Karate Kid Part III,” and we’re betting you didn’t even know there was a character in that movie named Dennis until they did that.

Though it has stubbornly avoided anyone significant from “The Next Karate Kid,” “Cobra Kai” has been seemingly determined to bring back every character from the previous movies that could possibly or plausibly return. In most cases, it has offered redemption arcs, or the occasional kind moment for even the toughest villain — only Silver, the franchise’s big bad all along, remains an unrepentant bastard and devil incarnate.

Now can’t we please get Hilary Swank and Michael Ironside in there somehow before the very last episode?

Initially, “Cobra Kai” appeared to promise a build-up to a new Daniel LaRusso-Johnny Lawrence fight, this time with Johnny as the sympathetic protagonist. It grew into so much more. Finally, characters besides Daniel could fight each other! Johnny could take on Kreese, Chozen could fight Silver, and Barnes could take on anybody. Meanwhile, the story also built up new characters whose grudges would be just as interesting, yet far harder to predict. 

What if Johnny and Daniel formed a tag team? What if all the villains teamed up? “Cobra Kai” has delivered on most every combination match-up fans of the original trilogy could want. Daniel has long deserved a proper fight against Terry Silver and John Kreese, and he’s been able to get them. These are long-term dream matches, but by the time Sam and Tory faced each other in a tournament, so were they. Ditto Robby versus Miguel, or Hawk against Demetri. Season 6 even introduced an all-new villain in Kwon Jae-Sung (Brandon H. Lee) and had us all rooting for Robby to fight him hard only a few episode in, just as Lewis Tan’s Wolf was cruising for a bruising just from insulting Johnny daily. By the time we see most fights on “Cobra Kai,” legacy or otherwise, they’ve become the match-ups we most want to see, and they don’t all revolve around one hero kid like the movies.

From Samantha in a sensory deprivation chamber to Kreese tripping on cobra venom, or Daniel having a very cinematic dream about a young Miyagi kicking his ass, “Cobra Kai” isn’t above giving us actual dream sequences in order to create fight match-ups that don’t fit into the plot any other way. Yet they still have stakes: like the “Dreamland” level on the old “Simpsons” arcade game, someone has to beat the boss in order for the story to proceed.

Imaginary stories, as every comics fan knows, allows the writer to break the rules of canon, and in some cases, practicality. Pat Morita is dead, as is his character Mr. Miyagi, but in a CG-enhanced dream, he can fight again. No showrunner in their right mind will allow Kreese to break Johnny’s neck and kill him, except in a snakebite-induced vision quest. By the end of the series, who knows? Maybe Kreese will die and duke it out with Miyagi again in the afterlife.