The creators of the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai – which is heading into its sixth and final season – have been respectful of the legacy of the original films… while also expanding on the mythology and taking it places fans probably never thought possible. The show has introduced so many new characters who have become as important to the overall story as the founding, core characters of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The show quickly brought back chief antagonist John Kreese (Martin Kove) to drop his hammer on the duo. But the one character they could not bring back was Mr. Miyagi, played by the inimitable Pat Morita.
After portraying Mr. Miyagi in multiple Karate Kid feature films over the years, Pat Morita died in 2005 and has cast a gentle shadow over the entirety of Cobra Kai. The series constantly dwells on Miyagi’s influence on Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), with the New Jersey native frequently fighting to maintain Miyagi’s core values in the dojo as he trains the next generation of karate students in the Valley. And even though Cobra Kai has brought back previous cast members like Elisabeth Shue, Thomas Ian Griffith, and Yuji Okumoto, there hasn’t been any effort to replicate Morita.
That doesn’t mean that Nariyoshi Miyagi, the character, is completely off the board, though.
There’s a right way to bring back Mr. Miyagi
Recently, CinemaBlend got the opportunity to travel to Georgia and visit the set of Cobra Kai during filming on the sixth and final season. And during that visit, we spoke with series co-creator Josh Heald about their plans for Cobra Kai Season 6, and where they might want the characters to go after the series wraps. But I was genuinely surprised to learn that they had considered how to bring Mr. Miyagi back into the creative umbrella of Cobra Kai storytelling, with Heald explaining to us:
We discussed it. I don’t think we would ever recast Miyagi if we are looking at the Pat Morita-aged Miyagi. You know, our minds, they run wild. We like to think about who Mr. Miyagi was a hundred years ago. Everybody knows the story that Miyagi tells in The Karate Kid: Part Two, about his coming of age, and Sato. So it’s not outside the realm (of) possibility that we would want to perhaps explore different eras of Mr. Miyagi at some point in this franchise, with a different performer.
I’m not sure that anyone in Hollywood thinks about The Karate Kid and its legacy more than Josh Heald and his fellow Cobra Kai showrunners. They have proven over the years that they hold all of the original Karate Kid movies in high esteem, and would never do anything to tarnish the memories of someone as special as the late Pat Morita.
But they believe – and I tend to agree – that you could tell a story from Miyagi’s earlier days, and cast a different actor to play the part. It would have to be separate from the events of The Karate Kid, and probably even The Karate Kid: Part 2… which explored Miyagi’s history on the Japanese island of Okinawa. We have seen other franchises that have recast younger versions of classic movie characters. I think that Karate Kid fans would be willing to follow Miyagi through a new story, with a new actor.
At the same time, there are ways that are unacceptable, and the Cobra Kai team knows this.
The wrong way to try and bring Miyagi back
The biggest issue with trying to tell more stories focused on Mr. Miyagi is that he’s so closely associated with Pat Morita, Karate Kid fans would consider it a disservice to use CG or any type of modern camera trickery to make it seem like Morita was contributing in any way. That could be grotesque. Which means there are specific moments As Josh Heald went on to explain to us:
I think we personally bump on the idea of going back to a timeline that overlaps with when Daniel knew Miyagi, and do that with anybody other than Pat. We’ve been very careful in the series so far to use the footage and to shoot – there was a scene where I shot Miyagi from behind when he first built the backyard. But to turn around and (show) the face, it has to either be a different era, or it would have to be Pat. It would have to look like Pat. It would have to sound like Pat. It would be a bump, I think, for people to say, ‘Okay, this is 1986, and it’s not quite what I remember.’
And in that sense, I totally agree. Franchises that have used CG to bring back popular characters – I’m looking at you, Star Wars – have run into issues by trying to replicate new versions of a classic character who is still very fresh in our memory. We know that’s not Carrie Fisher in Rogue One, and it’s jarring.
So it’s encouraging to hear from the Cobra Kai creatives that they know it’d be too hard to try and tell a Miyagi story set in the time period that’s very near and dear to our hearts. You can’t explore more with Miyagi in any timeframe connected to The Karate Kid or its sequels. That would require Pat Morita at a very specific age. And since you can’t have that, don’t even try.
But with Cobra Kai coming to an end, I’m genuinely curious where the showrunners want to go with the series. By all accounts, the Cobra Kai story is going to end. But there are ways for these storytellers to continue, and just hearing the fact that they discussed more stories with Mr. Miyagi is fascinating. We’ll see what stems from it in the years to come.
Look for Cobra Kai to begin its final season on Netflix beginning on July 18.