YouTube recently teased their acquisition of a Karate Kid reboot series called Cobra Kai. The show will stream on YouTube Red some time in 2018. From the press conference, we know that the original Karate Kid, Daniel (aka Ralph Macchio) and his original opponent Johnny (aka William Zabka) will reprise their roles as rival dojo owners 30+ years after the All Valley Tournament. Here are five things we’d better see in the Karate Kid reboot.
1. Creative Training
If Daniel’s going to properly impart Miyagi’s wisdom on a new generation of students, then the reboot can’t exist in the Karate Kid universe without kids waxing cars, painting fences, sanding floors or balancing on logs. We don’t want to see a bunch of whiny, entitled millennials checking their iPhones during class.
2. Heavy-Handed Life Lessons
We know the parables are coming, so we might as well pretend we like them. If we’re being honest with ourselves, cheesy sincerity was a big part of most of the best 1980s films. The Cobra Kai writers may have previous credits like Harold and Kumar and Hot Tub Time Machine, but it’s worth noting that even those series speak heavily toward concepts like loyalty and what it means to be a man. The writers are also reportedly huge fans of The Karate Kid, calling this project their “dream job,” so expect them to honor the uplifting intent of the original.
3. A Daniel vs. Johnny Rematch
The press conference announcing the show had a pre-fight theme that we’d like to see the show follow through on. We don’t want to see Daniel and Johnny compete via their respective kids, either. If we’re going to put these geezers in karategis, they might as well fight.
4. A Dramatic Final Fight (spinning drums non-negotiable)
The show’s creators could kill two birds with one stone by making the dramatic fight the aforementioned Daniel and Johnny rematch. It’s far more likely to be another Daniel-esque kid confronting a bully, though. Which is fine, so long as we get to see the underdog rise up and crane kick their cheating opponent in the face.
5. A Badass Mr. Miyagi Tribute
The absence of Mr. Miyagi will be obvious in Cobra Kai. The role’s originator, Pat Morita, died in 2005. Macchio has sworn to treat the character’s absence with dignity, which we hope means more than staring tearfully at a photo on the wall of his dojo a’la Glee‘s cringeworthy Finn Hudson tribute.
Karate Kid Reboot Bonus – A Holiday Episode
With this being a streaming show, we know the episodes won’t synch up real-time. Still, Daniel’s epic shower costume was a comedy highlight of the original Karate Kid (until he got pounded obviously). Maybe Daniel and Johnny could end up secret Santas in a Christmas episode? Please note that a holiday episode is not a musical episode. One can only hope Macchio got that out of his system on Dancing With The Stars.