The Karate Kid series has evolved into the Karate Kid saga over the years. What started out as the story of a New Jersey teen rising up against his Southern California bullies has grown to include a remake of the tale (led by Jackie Chan), and a very popular Netflix series that has re-imagined the storyline through the eyes of the tormented Johnny Lawrence. Throughout it all, though, the key that unlocks all of the emotion in The Karate Kid has been Ralph Macchio’s original character, Daniel LaRusso, who will embark on a new journey in the anticipated 2025 movie, Karate Kid: Legends. The first trailer for the movie just arrived. Watch it above.
Die hard Karate Kid fans had a few lingering questions, which the new trailer for Karate Kid: Legends goes out of its way to address. Namely, when Jackie Chan took over the story for one movie, he wasn’t playing Mr. Miyagi. His character, Mr. Han, ended up being a mentor to a fish-out-of-water kid (played by Will Smith’s son, Jayden Smith), so that version wasn’t a pure remake. Which meant that Mr. Han could eventually meet Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in a story.
But how?
The answer lies in a simple line in the trailer. We hear Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han tell Daniel:
Li is to me what you meant to sensei Miyagi.
And instantly, in that moment, you know that the Daniel who has spent six seasons caught up in the emotional growth of his Miyagi-do students in Cobra Kai is going to drop everything to help this new kid, Li Fong, played in Karate Kid: Legends by Ben Wang.
Here’s something else nerdy that I detect from this trailer for Karate Kid: Legends. While we do see Jackie Chan’s Han traveling to Southern California and meeting Daniel in Miyagi’s home, the rest of the trailer shows us a very different side of Daniel that has not been on display through Cobra Kai. That Daniel is the buttoned up car salesman, wearing his suits and being a good role model for his children, and for his students. Look at Macchio in this trailer. Even his hair looks more of a throwback to the rebellious teenage Daniel from the first movie. And when the action moves to the East Coast, we see Daniel training and fighting in sweats and casuals. It’s a throwback I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. LaRusso back in New York and New Jersey. Let the games begin!
I’m totally in the bag for whatever it is that writer Rob Lieber and director Jonathan Entwistle have planned for this storyline. This looks like it could be a major surprise on the upcoming 2025 movie slate. It will drop exclusively in theaters on May 30, but this is an excellent trailer that teases the action and story, but leaves plenty more to be discovered. Legendary.