33 ‘Karate Kid’ Easter Eggs You May Have Missed in ‘Cobra Kai’ - Netflix Tudum
- GuideThere’s a reason why you might recognize Miguel’s skeleton costume.By Marisa RoffmanDec. 23, 2021
Cobra Kai may never die, but the Karate Kid references are just as timeless. The original The Karate Kid movie, which tells the story of a teen’s unlikely friendship with his karate master neighbor, came out in 1984 and was an immediate success, grossing over $130 million worldwide. It spawned two sequels that follow Daniel’s journey with Mr. Miyagi (1986’s The Karate Kid Part II and 1989’s The Karate Kid Part III), as well as a fourth chapter (1994’s The Next Karate Kid, starring a teenaged Hilary Swank) in which Mr. Miyagi takes on a new pupil. (There’s also a 2010 Karate Kid with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan that’s about kung fu and exists outside the established canon. Don’t ask.) The Cobra Kai series continues Daniel’s story — along with his high school rival, Johnny — and interweaves the franchise’s past with modern-day storytelling. From episode titles to direct parallels, here are 30+ Easter eggs appearing in the first three seasons that both eagle-eyed fans and newcomers can appreciate.
1. Johnny has a red Firebird when the show starts, an homage to his car in The Karate Kid.
2. In the series, Daniel is working at the dealership with his cousin Louie. In The Karate Kid Part III, viewers meet Daniel’s Uncle Louie for the first time.
3. Cobra Kai’s unofficial mantra, “No Mercy,” which Kreese often says in The Karate Kid series, becomes official when Johnny puts it on the wall of his dojo.
4. The pilot of Cobra Kai is called “Ace Degenerate,” a reference to Johnny’s rejection of the nickname in The Karate Kid. “Ex-degenerate, man,” he claims in the movie. The Season 1, Episode 4 title, “Cobra Kai Never Dies,” was a mantra that Silver and Kreese repeated in The Karate Kid Part III. The Season 3, Episode 3 title, “Now You’re Gonna Pay,” is a reference to a line Johnny says in the original film. The episode, “The Moment of Truth,” is named after The Karate Kid theme song.
5. Johnny has Miguel do pushups on his knuckles, just how Kreese taught him. Miguel also kicks boards in metal frames, like Daniel had to do in The Karate Kid Part III, when he briefly trained with Terry Silver.
6. Miguel cleans the dojo like Daniel did cleaning for Mr. Miyagi.
7. Daniel has a knife from Okinawa, Mr. Miyagi’s hometown, and where he visited in Karate Kid Part II.
8. Daniel asks Kyler, the short-lived boyfriend of his daughter, Sam, how he hurt his eye and hand, much like Mr. Miyagi asked him in The Karate Kid.
9. Miguel wears Johnny’s old skeleton costume from The Karate Kid. He also wears Johnny’s red leather jacket for a themed party.
10. Daniel tells Sam that his mom drove him to dates; viewers see that in The Karate Kid when she drives him and Ali to their first date. 11. Johnny tells Miguel it’s not a knitting class, it’s a dojo, which Kreese also says to Miyagi and Daniel in The Karate Kid.
12. Daniel hangs up Mr. Miyagi’s “Karate for defense only” sign, which is introduced in The Karate Kid Part II.
13. The flashback to a young Johnny looking at the Cobra Kai dojo includes audio from The Karate Kid and uses the original sign. 14. Johnny tells his students, “Fear does not exist in this dojo,” “pain does not exist in this dojo” and “defeat does not exist in this dojo.” Kreese says the same things word-for-word in The Karate Kid.
15. Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel “wax on, wax off”; Daniel teaches the same to Robby. Robby also trims a bonsai tree, like Daniel has during his own training. (Amanda also references Daniel and Miyagi’s bonsai tree store from The Karate Kid Part III.) Daniel wears catcher’s gear to train Robby, like Mr. Miyagi does with him. Daniel trains Robby on a tree, whereas Daniel trains on a tree stump in The Karate Kid.
16. Daniel and Ali’s first date in The Karate Kid parallels Sam and Miguel’s first date in Cobra Kai. 17. Daniel’s mom refers to his eyes as “baby browns” in Cobra Kai, just like she does in The Karate Kid.
18. After Johnny’s car gets destroyed, Daniel tells him to choose a car from the lot; Miyagi does the same for Daniel with his own collection.
19. Johnny has Miguel do a crane kick like the one Daniel uses on Johnny when he beat him in The Karate Kid.
20. Hawk does an illegal move and is disqualified in the Cobra Kai tournament, as Bobby does in The Karate Kid. 21. Daniel tells Robby he doesn’t need to fight, paralleling what Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel in The Karate Kid.
22. Daniel frames Mr. Miyagi’s medal of honor in The Karate Kid Part II and gifts it to his mentor. You can spot it in Season 2 of Cobra Kai.
23. Robby plays with the toy drum that Daniel has in The Karate Kid Part II.
24. Daniel’s present-day dojo includes the upside down boat that he uses to learn how to balance in The Karate Kid.
25. Daniel brings out ice blocks for the demonstration in Cobra Kai, similar to the ones he breaks in The Karate Kid Part II. 26. “No Shelter” by Broken Edge plays as Demetri runs away from Hawk in Cobra Kai; the song plays while Daniel runs from Johnny at the Halloween dance in The Karate Kid. “The Ride” is used for Johnny and his Cobra Kai friends in The Karate Kid, as well as when they reunite in the series. “Cruel Summer” plays twice on the show, after also playing in The Karate Kid. “Feel the Night” is playing during Johnny and Ali’s date in the third season of the series and is also used for Ali and Daniel’s date in The Karate Kid.
27. There are Fernandez Meat labels on boxes in Cobra Kai, which references Freddy, whom Daniel knew as a kid in The Karate Kid, and gave him that nickname. 28. On a double date with Amanda and Carmen in Cobra Kai, Daniel and Johnny mention a “blueberry pie incident”... which references an unreleased scene from The Karate Kid.
29. Kreese makes a cardboard cutout of himself in Cobra Kai, which is a staple in the films.
30. Chozen’s finishing move of a nose honk on Cobra Kai is used by Daniel and Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part II.
31. Daniel takes Sam on a father-daughter fishing trip in Cobra Kai, like he does with Mr. Miyagi in the film
32. Encino Oaks Country Club, where the adults have their holiday party in Cobra Kai, is first seen in The Karate Kid. 33. On Cobra Kai, Ali recalls how she warned Daniel that the brakes on Miyagi’s car were going; in Karate Kid Part II, he blames the damage to the car on her.
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