Friday saw the arrival of the second of three parts of Cobra Kai‘s sixth and final season on Netflix, a batch of five episodes that features the show’s main characters competing in a global karate competition known as the Sekai Taikai. While many of the show’s storylines focus on the younger characters actually competing, there’s still a major emphasis on the journey of the original Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and how he is wrestling with the legacy of Mister Miyagi. A part of that story in Season 6 culminates in a nightmare for Daniel, one that includes a brief CGI re-creation of late Karate Kid star Pat Morita. WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Cobra Kai Season 6. Continue reading at your own risk…
In the 10th episode of Cobra Kai‘s final season, Daniel has a dream where he is fighting Miyagi in a tournament. This is after learning that his late teacher apparently killed a competitor at the Sekai Taikai many years before. Throughout the dream, Daniel is fighting a younger version of Miyagi, who is played by actor Brian Takahashi. In the final moment of the dream, however, as Miyagi is about to kill Daniel to end their fight, a CGI version of Morita comes into focus.
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The use of Morita’s likeness only lasts for a few seconds, but it comes with the same kind of issues that other CGI returns, like Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This Cobra Kai return, at least, is contained to a single moment in a dream sequence. Still, the issue of using the likeness of late actors has been an enormously controversial topic throughout the entertainment industry. When ComicBook had the opportunity to speak with Cobra Kai showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg about the release of the new Season 6 episodes, we asked about the decision to create this cameo for Pat Morita.
“It’s something that we’re very sensitive to and it’s something that we didn’t take lightly.
To be honest, it started with conversations with Ralph Macchio,” Hurwitz told us. “From the very beginning of us making the series, Mr. Miyagi’s presence has been so important to Cobra Kai. Even though Pat’s no longer with us, we’ve paid tribute to him throughout the series and used clips from him in the past.
“And as this technology has developed over time, when when we were thinking of Daniel’s journey in the final season, we wanted him to be wrestling with his relationship with Mr. Miyagi, the revelations that happen in many people’s lives where you learn things about your parents or your mentor that you never knew just because they never told you or they didn’t feel the need to tell you. And you have to think about does that change anything in terms of your relationship with them or does it help you realize just that they’re complicated, that all human beings are complicated and have pasts that have ups and downs. And we certainly know from The Karate Kid that Miyagi had that in his life.”
Hurwitz went on to confirm that the Cobra Kai and Sony teams worked closely with not only Macchio, but also Morita’s family. The late actor’s estate backed the decision to use Morita’s likeness in that sequence, otherwise the scene wouldn’t have happened.
“Ralph was a big proponent of the idea of sharing screen time with Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi one more time. So we wrote the scenes and we worked with Sony to reach out to his estate, as we have in the past been clearing things. And we were met with a warm reception to the idea of Pat’s likeness being used on the show in this capacity.” he explained. “If this was a scenario where, you know, Pat’s estate and the family had no interest in it, we certainly wouldn’t have gone down this path. This was something that was coming from a place of love. It was coming from Pat’s greatest screen partner in Ralph Macchio and our Cobra Kai team. And once we had the blessing and the approval and excitement from the people in Pat’s life, we moved forward.”
[RELATED: Cobra Kai Final Episodes Release Date Revealed by Netflix]
Schlossberg chimed in to add that, in addition to Macchio wanting the scene to happen, this cameo occurred because they felt that fans would want to see Miyagi return to the screen in some capacity.
“We always operate with what we want to see as fans. And I love Pat Morita from The Karate Kid. Any version of him coming back would be exciting to me as a fan,” Schlossberg said. “And we understand it’s not Pat Morita. It’s a technology. It’s a likeness. And that’s where I just think, as a viewer, you go in with your suspension of disbelief… And we just operate under the assumption that fans are going to want to see these things and want to bring these characters to life in their own mind.”
The first 10 episodes of Cobra Kai Season 6 are now streaming on Netflix. The final five episodes of the series will premiere on February 13, 2025.
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