While I was initially hesitant about Karate Kid: Legends because it seemingly excludes any reference to Cobra Kai, the latest trailer makes it one of my most anticipated upcoming movies in 2025. I'm psyched to see new Miyagi-Do pupil Ben Wang kick some ass, and the latest trailer in addition to the first one and what CinemaBlend saw at CinemaCon has me thrilled for Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio to team up.
Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han (from The Karate Kid reboot with Jaden Smith) are joining forces to teach a young teen to blend Miyagi-Do with his knowledge of kung-fu. That much we see in the trailer, but what readers didn't see is the exclusive footage rolled out at CinemaCon. Fortunately, we were on the scene and have a breakdown of the two scenes shown during Sony's presentation to those in attendance.
Ben Is Attacked In An Apartment By A Familiar Face
Ben enters his apartment looking for his mother, but she's nowhere to be found. He notices an open window, and then is attacked by an unknown assailant shortly after. During the scuffle, Ben discovers his attacker is none other than Mr. Han, who wishes to train him in the art of karate. Quite a way to make an introduction, but totally in line with the wildness we expect from The Karate Kid franchise.
Mr. Han Convinces Daniel To Come To New York
While part of the scene of Mr. Han visiting Daniel at the Miyagi dojo is seen in the trailer, an extended cut was shown at CinemaCon. There, we see Mr. Han arrive and pay respects to a photo of the departed karate master, and Daniel appears to tell Mr. Han that Mr. Miyagi has passed.
Han knows this and states that he came to see Daniel for help training Ben. Daniel is against the idea and tries to resist, but as we saw, he'll show up in New York and hopefully help get Ben in shape for the big karate tournament.
Overall, it seems Karate Kid Legends continues the classic formula of a struggling teen finding confidence in karate, finding love, and inadvertently pissing off the kung-fu champion of the local region. Hey, it's a formula that had audiences glued to their Netflix subscription for years, and hopefully, it will continue to do so with this movie.
What I think sells me the most on this movie is the action, which looks to be even a step above what we saw in Cobra Kai. Unsurprisingly, it looks like movies get a little more money than streaming shows to build up those fight scenes, or maybe actor Li Fong just sells it all better. Either way, I'm hype and hoping for the happy ending where he gets the girl and wins the tourney.
Karate Kid Legends is coming to theaters on May 30th, and I'm thrilled to see more high-flying action from everyone involved in this cast. Here's hoping it's as great as what we got with Cobra Kai, and if it is, we get some sequels out of it.
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