"Cobra Kai" may be ending, but the next chapter of the "Karate Kid" franchise is just beginning.
Ralph Macchio, who has played the titular karate kid that started it all since 1984, will star in a new film in the series alongside Jackie Chan, set to release in 2025.
That same year, "Cobra Kai" — a Netflix spinoff series that follows Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as they train the next generation of karate prodigies — will wrap up its sixth and final season. The season is divided into three parts, the first of which hit Netflix July 18.
Macchio is the only confirmed cast member in both the 2025 film and “Cobra Kai." But will the storylines connect?
While both the film and show wrapped around the same time, according to Macchio, "Cobra Kai" co-creator Josh Heald tells TODAY.com the new "Karate Kid" film had no effect on the writing of Season 6.
"It didn't impact it at all," Heald says. "We're telling our story that is finishing the story we set out to tell when we began Season 1 production back in 2017. And this is the ultimate realization of that story."
Heald also clarified to ScreenRant that while "Cobra Kai" Season 6 "doesn’t set up the movie," the character of Daniel is "the piece that does tie" the two projects.
"But there’s nothing from a storytelling or a character journey in our season that directly feeds into that project," he said.
The 2025 film was written by Rob Lieber, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both the movie and "Cobra Kai" are distributed by Sony.
The 2025 movie will be the sixth "Karate Kid" film in the franchise. Macchio starred in the first three "Karate Kid" films, and Hilary Swank led "The Next Karate Kid" in 1994 alongside Pat Morita, who reprised his role of Mr. Miyagi.
In 2010, the series picked up again with a new cast, setting and martial arts style. Jaden Smith played 12-year-old Dre, who moves to China and learns kung fu from his building's maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan).
The 2025 film seemingly confirms that the original film and the 2010 reboot are set in the same universe, but beyond that, fans so far are left with more questions than answers.
The film, which had a worldwide search to cast lead Ben Wang, will also star Joshua Jackson.
Filming wrapped around June, Macchio shared on Instagram in a post honoring the 40th anniversary of "The Karate Kid."
"On this day, June 22, 1984, the world met Daniel LaRusso. Happy 40th Anniversary to The Karate Kid. Looking ahead to one of the most exciting years yet! Just wrapped @CobraKaiSeries and the new @KarateKidMovie. Epic stuff on the way!" he captioned a photo of himself taken by "Cobra Kai" actor Xolo Maridueña.
