"Karate Kid: Legends" New Trailer: Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio Team Up to Pass the Torch in New Martial Arts Epic with Ben Wang
In this crossover sequel, Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso join forces to teach a new young fighter, blending kung fu and karate in a high-stakes tournament.
With Cobra Kai finishing its run on Netflix earlier this year, you might think the Karate Kid franchise is closing its doors for good. Think again! It seems Cobra Kai, the popular Karate Kid spinoff series, might have only been the tip of the iceberg. The story is far from over, and there’s more to come in this beloved franchise. Enter a new chapter: Karate Kid: Legends.
Where Cobra Kai brought back former school bully Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) on a redemption arc, reviving the Cobra Kai dojo and teaming up with former rival Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) for an ultimate showdown against John Kreese and Terry Silver, Legends is bringing back another part of the universe: Mr. Han!
Now, if you're asking yourself, “Who the hell is Mr. Han? And why haven’t I heard of this character before?” That’s because Mr. Han (played by martial arts legend Jackie Chan) comes from the 2010 Karate Kid remake, set in Beijing, China.
In this version, Jaden Smith played a bullied foreign exchange student who was taught self-defense techniques in kung fu, not karate. In fact, this installment was more like “The Kung Fu Kid,” following the same model of a bullied teen finding mentorship from a wise elder who ultimately becomes a father figure. In this case, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) filled the role that Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) originally made iconic.
Though quite popular in its own right and earning a respectable return at the box office, if you ask us, however, this 2010 Karate Kid installment could have easily been ignored if it wasn’t for the global popularity of Jackie Chan. And hey! We can’t deny he’s a superstar. So, Mr. Han is back. But not alone.
As a way to bridge the universes together—the 2010 Karate Kid with the original Karate Kid films and the Cobra Kai series—Mr. Han will be joining forces with another sensei from the other side of the world: Daniel-san from America. This crossover brings together two iconic figures from different fighting traditions, merging their wisdom and experience to guide the next generation.
Fresh off spending six seasons on Cobra Kai, Ralph Macchio returns as Daniel LaRusso, representing Mr. Miyagi’s traditional style of karate. This time, LaRusso has been enlisted by Mr. Han to help his star kung fu pupil, Li Fong (Ben Wang, from Disney's American Born Chinese), learn the ways of karate—and maybe even a crane kick or two.
Li Fong, a Chinese American student in New York City, finds himself targeted by a group of karate-trained ruffians, leading to a fight that escalates into a fierce competition at a local karate tournament. Despite being raised on Mr. Han’s kung fu teachings, Li Fong must embrace Miyagi’s karate style to defeat his high school tormentors in the championships. Both Mr. Han and Sensei LaRusso will have to pass on everything they’ve learned to the young prodigy to help him emerge victorious.
Also starring Ming-Na Wen as Li Fong’s mother and Sadie Stanley as Li Fong’s high school love interest, this new Karate Kid chapter is directed by acclaimed television helmer Jonathan Entwistle, whose credits include Apple TV’s retro-futurism series Hello Tomorrow! and the darkly comic British teen series The End of the F**ing World*.
Entwistle also directed the entire first (and only) season of the highly overlooked and underappreciated supernatural coming-of-age series I Am Not Okay with This, which still breaks our hearts that Netflix never gave it a shot and cut it way too soon.
Karate Kid: Legends also co-stars Joshua Jackson, Aramis Knight, Wyatt Oleff, and Jennifer-Lyn Christie, and was written by Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween).
So just remember that there’s “No such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher” when Karate Kid: Legends arrives in theaters on May 30th.
