33 ‘Karate Kid’ Easter Eggs You May Have Missed in ‘Cobra Kai’ - Netflix Tudum

  • Guide

    33 ‘Karate Kid’ Easter Eggs You May Have Missed in ‘Cobra Kai’

    There’s a reason why you might recognize Miguel’s skeleton costume.
    By Marisa Roffman
    Dec. 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.

The red Firebird

1. Johnny has a red Firebird when the show starts, an homage to his car in The Karate Kid.

A close up of cousin Louie at the car dealership

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.

A close up of the phrase

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.

Miguel trains by doing pushups on his knuckles

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.

Miguel cleans the dojo floor

6. Miguel cleans the dojo like Daniel did cleaning for Mr. Miyagi.

Daniel uses a kitchen knife made in Okinawa

7. Daniel has a knife from Okinawa, Mr. Miyagi’s hometown, and where he visited in Karate Kid Part II.

Daniel interrogates Sam's short-lived boyfriend

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.

Miguel wears Johnny's old skeleton Halloween costume

9. Miguel wears Johnny’s old skeleton costume from The Karate Kid. He also wears Johnny’s red leather jacket for a themed party.

A picture of Daniel's mom driving him and high school crush Ali to their date

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.

Daniel hangs up Miyagi's old

12. Daniel hangs up Mr. Miyagi’s “Karate for defense only” sign, which is introduced in The Karate Kid Part II.

Flashback of Johnny as a child looking at the Cobra Kai sign on the building

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.

Mr. Miyagi teaches young Daniel about the

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.

A picture of Miguel side by side with a photo of young Daniel's high school crush Ali

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.

Daniel walks alongside Johnny who picks a car out of Daniel's car lot

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.

Miguel stands in Crane pose, ready to strike his opponent on the mat

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.

A picture of a Mr. Miyagi's framed medal

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.

Robby plays with a drum that Daniel played with as young man

23. Robby plays with the toy drum that Daniel has in The Karate Kid Part II.

An image of Daniel's dojo and the yard where he trains his daughter Sam and her friend Robby Keene

24. Daniel’s present-day dojo includes the upside down boat that he uses to learn how to balance in The Karate Kid.

Daniel in karate uniform wheels out a block of ice, similar to the one he broke apart in Karate Kid Part II.

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.

A picture of Daniel and two students in a warehouse with Fernandez meat boxes behind them.

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.

Daniel contemplates the cardboard cutout image of John Kreese in the dojo

29. Kreese makes a cardboard cutout of himself in Cobra Kai, which is a staple in the films.

An image of Mr. Miyagi doing the nose honk to Daniel the way that Chozen did it in Cobra Kai

30. Chozen’s finishing move of a nose honk on Cobra Kai is used by Daniel and Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part II.

An image of Sam and Daniel in a fishing boat

31. Daniel takes Sam on a father-daughter fishing trip in Cobra Kai, like he does with Mr. Miyagi in the film

An image of the plaque outside of the Encino Oaks Country Club

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.

All About Cobra Kai

  • News
    Cobra Kai Is Kicking Off Its Sixth and Final Season
    Miyagiverse: Get ready for the biggest season yet.
    By Christopher Hudspeth
    Sept. 20
  • Explainer
    An untimely death sparks a shocking twist.
    By Christopher Hudspeth
    Aug. 20
  • Sneak Peek
    Relish the calm before the storm.
    By Christopher Hudspeth
    July 16
  • Screen Time
    Watching Cobra Kai helps me feel less alone in my struggles to raise good kids.
    By Clint Edwards
    Sept. 23, 2022
  • News
    Throw your name in the ring to be one of nine lucky winners.
    By Phillipe Thao
    Sept. 23, 2022
  • Say What?
    Things get weird!
    By John DiLillo
    Sept. 21, 2022
  • Script to Screen
    Cobra Kai Season 5 sees a long-awaited face-off, and the showrunners give details, from script to screen.
    By John DiLillo
    Sept. 16, 2022
  • Up Close
    The Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai senseis discuss their bloody Season 5 action sequences — including that legendary finale moment.
    By Phillipe Thao
    Sept. 14, 2022

Shop Cobra Kai

GO TO NETFLIX SHOP

Discover More Guide

  • Guide
    Save yourself some time and frustration with these pointers.
    By Timothy J. Seppala
    Yesterday 3:06 pm
  • Guide
    No wonder Paris is called the City of Love.
    By Ariana Romero
    Sept. 23
  • Guide
    The Straw Hats are deep into filming. 
    By Tara Bitran and Phillipe Thao
    Sept. 23
  • Guide
    We’ve got all the apocalyptic intel for you.
    By Drew Tewksbury and Tara Bitran
    Aug. 8
  • Guide
    No, you don’t need to have seen Vikings, and yes, you must love beards.
    By Drew Tewksbury
    July 15
  • Guide
    Six reasons why she rules.
    By Jean Bentley
    May 13
  • Guide
    Connect the dots on every major event in Season 1 of the sci-fi drama.
    By Tara Bitran
    March 25
  • Guide
    Ranked from stodgy to stunning.
    By Charlotte Walsh
    March 14

Related Videos

  • Behind the Scenes
    Let’s see if his gum-gum moves can handle some Miyagi-Do techniques.
    Sept. 20
    13:08
  • Press Play
    These frat bros didn’t stand a chance. 
    July 26
    2:36
  • Press Play
    Find out which cast member knows their co-stars’ lines.
    July 26
    3:58
  • Recap
    Ready to step back into the dojo?
    July 16
    2:16
  • Video
    Before they were senseis, they were just karate kids.
    July 12
    1:33
  • Trailer
    It’s time to return to the dojo. 
    July 1
    1:56
  • Trailer
    The end of a legacy deserves a grand finale.
    May 2
    0:36

Latest News

Popular Now

  • Deep Dive
    A new documentary unwraps facts of the murder trial that captivated a nation.
    By John DiLillo
    Sept. 23
  • News
    Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Cooper Koch star.
    By Tara Bitran and Phillipe Thao
    Sept. 22
  • News
    Come party with the Pogues Oct. 8.
    By Tara Bitran
    Sept. 25
  • Explainer
    Showrunner Jenna Lamia, director Susanne Bier, and the cast untangle the twists.
    By Tara Bitran
    Sept. 17