Netflix has released five new episodes of Cobra Kai Season 6 turned into a crazy brawl last weekend! This show is so ridiculous and yet so damn fun to watch!
Spoilers for those who aren’t up to date yet!
This latest season focused on the main characters competing in the global karate competition known as Sekai Taikai. During this, however, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is grappling with some things he learned about his teacher, Mr. Miyagi.
In the story, LaRusso discovers that his deceased martial arts teacher killed a competitor at the Sekai Taikai competition many years ago.
In the tenth episode of the season, as this discovery weighs on Daniel’s mind, he has a dream in which he finds himself fighting Miyagi in a tournament. That fight ends with a brief CGI reconstruction of the late Pat Morita.
In the final moment of the dream, as Miyagi is about to destroy Daniel to end their fight, a CGI version of Morita comes into focus. As you can imagine, some fans weren’t happy with this and it caused a bit of controversy, but he had the family’s blessing.
ComicBook recently had the opportunity to speak with Cobra Kai showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg about the decision to create this cameo for Pat Morita.
Hurwitz said: “It’s something we’re very sensitive to and it’s something we haven’t taken lightly.
To be honest, it all started with conversations with Ralph Macchio.
“From the very beginning of the making of the series, Mr. Miyagi’s presence was very important to Cobra Kai. Even though Pat is no longer with us, we have paid homage to him throughout the series and have used clips of him in the past.
“And as this technology has developed over time, when we were thinking about Daniel’s journey in the final season, we wanted him to grapple 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 who you never met just because they never told you or didn’t feel the need to tell you.
“And you have to think about whether this changes anything in terms of your relationship with them or helps you just understand that they are complicated, that all human beings are complicated and have a past full of ups and downs. And we certainly know from The Karate Kid that Miyagi had this in his life.
Hurwitz went on to say that the teams behind the show worked closely with Macchio and Morita’s family to make this happen. The late actor’s heirs supported the decision to use Morita’s likeness in that sequence.
Hurwitz said: “Ralph was a big supporter of the idea of sharing screen time with Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi once again. So we wrote the scenes and worked with Sony to achieve his legacy, as we have clarified things in the past.
“And we received a warm welcome to the idea of Pat’s likeness being used on the show in this capacity. If this had been a scenario where, you know, Pat’s estate and the family had no interest, we certainly wouldn’t have gone down this path.
“It was something that came from a place of love. It came from Pat’s biggest film partner in Ralph Macchio and our Cobra Kai team. And once we had the blessing and approval and enthusiasm of the people in Pat’s life, we moved forward.”
Schlossberg went on to say that this cameo came about because they felt 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 his return would be exciting for me as a fan. And we understand that it’s not Pat Morita. It’s a technology. It’s a resemblance.
“And that’s where I think, as a viewer, your suspension of disbelief comes in… And we just operate under the assumption that fans are going to want to see these things and they’re going to want to bring these characters to life in their minds.” .”
Personally, I thought it would be nice to see Mr. Miyagi again! I didn’t expect this and accepted it as part of the story the Cobra Kai creative team wanted to tell.
What do you think of Mr. Miyagi’s CGI cameo?
The first 10 episodes of Cobra Kai Season six is now streaming on Netflix. The final five episodes of the series will premiere on February 13, 2025.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
