Warning: Major SPOILERS lie ahead for Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 2!
After avoiding showing new scenes with the character for most of the series, co-creator Josh Heald explains Cobra Kai Mr. Miyagi’s cameo in Season 6, Part 2. Last season saw Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso grappling with the discovery of a box of secrets from Mr. Miyagi’s past, including a covered Sekai Taikai captain’s sash of blood. Shortly after learning that his sensei’s fight ended in his opponent’s death, episode 10 began with a dream sequence in which Daniel fought Mr. Miyagi, both a young version played by Brian Takahashi and a CGI recreation of the original actor Pat Morita.
In honor of the show’s return, TV line interviewed Josh Heald to discuss Cobra Kai Season 6, part 2 and some of its biggest spoilers. When analyzing the decision to reveal more secrets about Mr. Miyagi, including his involvement in Sekai Taikai, the co-creator explained that they wanted to ultimately avoid telling a Miyagi story without the characterand instead strive to give a “new glimpse“in a part of the character’s life that the franchise avoided:
Pat and Miyagi are the heart of this series, and without Mr. Miyagi, there would be no Karate Kid and there would be no Miyagi verse, as we like to call him. For so many seasons, we’ve told a Miyagi story focused on Mr. Miyagi’s absence. This season, we’re delving a little deeper into the looming presence of new information, new ideas, or a new glimpse into a part of Mr. Miyagi’s life in which the series never concentrated. Daniel never knew that. So, digging deeper into this and getting deeper and deeper into Daniel’s head with his somewhat tortured idea of ​​”What didn’t he know?”…does this affect and infect your opinion of Mr. Miyagi?
When the decision came to use CGI to bring Morita back to life, Heald acknowledged that the team spoke with the late actor’s estate to be sure “that they are aware of and that they are comfortable“ effect, while working with “lots of technical things“to make the effect look as good as possible. He would go on to describe Miyagi’s appearance in the scene as “an unfortunate vision that Daniel is seeing”, as he and the audience see a version of the late sensei they have never seen. See the rest of Heald’s explanation below:
There are a lot of technical things you need to do with visual effects. Obviously there is a conversation with Pat’s estate and reassurance that they are aware and comfortable and that they are okay with it. We’re still coming out of the wild west of AI and visual effects, and we’re getting into a situation where we need to have some standards in terms of how you present this. You can’t just do whatever you want. Even if you don’t have an actor on set, it’s still their image. So we went through this whole process, which was important for us and for the studio, and we feel like we captured this unfortunate vision that Daniel is having of being trapped in this nightmare that he’s in. nightmare, and then he’s having a literal nightmare where a Miyagi like we’ve never seen visits him.
What this means for Cobra Kai and beyond
A Miyagi prequel could actually be on the table
Although the team never explicitly said they wouldn’t bring the character back, they have often expressed reluctance to incorporate Mr. Miyagi into Cobra Kai. Between wanting to maintain its legacy and at the same time focusing on the new characters introduced in the Karate Kid In the show’s run, it was clear that Heald and co-creators/co-showrunners Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg would be careful about reintroducing him into the group.
Still, with the character now officially back in the franchise, albeit through a dream sequence, the door now seems open for a young Mr. Miyagi Karate Kid spin off. Fans of the series aren’t the only ones who have expressed interest in seeing a prequel centered on the beloved character, as both Schlossberg and Macchio have shared similar curiosity about the possibility, with the latter telling Screen speech the following at the end of 2022:
Whether it’s up front, whether it’s on the periphery, or just involved in some way – because I’ve been there from the beginning with these characters – I would love to be included [a spin-off]. And there are these ongoing discussions, although it’s not a solidified idea or production at this point. But it seems to me that it’s just… How come we don’t explore the history and origin of Mr. Miyagi? And what happened? What brought you to that place; working in that apartment in Reseda? What was his life like before that? I think that would be fascinating.
While Cobra Kai season 6, part 2, has already begun to tie up some loose ends from Miyagi’s past, including his involvement in Sekai Taikai, there are certainly many other areas of his life for the show to explore. One of the most likely options would be his childhood, learning his patented Miyagi-Do from his fisherman father and eventually competing in tournaments, including the aforementioned world tournament that the show has been exploring this season.
Our Take on Miyagi’s Future Appearances in Cobra Kai and Beyond
A complete redesign could work, but more CGI won’t
As much as I love the character as a whole, Mr. Miyagi is so ingrained in Pat Morita’s performance that it would be difficult to imagine anyone playing him in future appearances in the franchise. That being said, I would certainly be open to seeing future Miyagi stories after Cobra Kai season 6 allowed for the role to be recast rather than new CGI recreations of Morita. It’s a trend I’m tired of in Hollywood, with everything from Grand Moff Tarkin to Peter Cushing in Rogue One to Ian Holm’s Tower in Alien: Romulus.
Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 3 is set to premiere February 13th on Netflix.
Source: TV line