Film / Karate Kid: Legends

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All spoilers for prior Karate Kid entries will remain unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Karate Kid: Legends is a 2025 martial arts drama film and the sixth film in the Karate Kid franchise. It is directed by Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World, I Am Not Okay With This) and stars Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight, and Shaunette Renée Wilson.

Set three years after the conclusion of Cobra Kai, the film follows a young martial arts prodigy (Wang) forced to move from Beijing to New York City after a family tragedy. As he struggles to adapt to his new surroundings, he finds himself under the tutelage of both Mr. Han (Chan) and Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) as he trains for a major tournament and the fight of his life.

The film was released in several Latin American countries on May 8, 2025 and on May 30, 2025 in the US, Canada and the UK.

Previews: Trailer 1, Trailer 2.

Many tropes... one list:

• And Starring: The trailer gives Ben Wang an "And Introducing" credit, while the movie proper gives the final "and" credit to Ralph Macchio.
• Artistic License: The pizza joint's Pepsi fountain has the non-U.S. 7UP logo (PepsiCo owns the rights to 7UP outside the U.S.), in an apparent attempt to connect with lemon-lime drinkers in the "international" region at the cost of short-changing Starry (and giving free advertising to Dr Pepper Snapple, owners of 7UP in the U.S.).
• Artistic License – Sports:
  • The Five Boroughs doesn't resemble any reasonable tournament, especially advertised for teenagers. It more resembles impromptu Fight Clubbing taking place at random parks with the crowd standing right at the edge of the ring, but somehow also has the budget for a $50,000 grand prize and a final fight on top of a skyscraper. The fighting is apparently not even point and reset, but just two people duking it out without protection until they get enough points or KO their opponent.
  • Conor is constantly abusing sparring partners, which is a quick way to get people to refuse to spar with him, and attacks opponents off match. There is even referee abuse that is ignored.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • When some thugs are about to attack Li and Victor shows up, it looks like Victor will protect Li like Mr. Miyagi protected Daniel, Mr. Han protected Dre, or Johnny protected Miguel. Li ends up protecting Victor.
  • When Li pins Conor after the latter tries to defeat him one last time, Li prepares to strike Conor down before he thrusts his fist down at him as if he had made the final blow. However, it is revealed Li punched the ground next to Conor's head, having spared him.
• Big Applesauce: The majority of the film takes place in New York City.
• Bookends: The first and final matches end with Li using the Dragon Kick against Conor.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • Whilst Cobra Kai did focus on the senseis' children as protagonists, this is the first mainline Karate Kid movie where the titular character is related to his mentor, with Li Fong being Mr. Han's grand-nephew.
  • Unlike previous Karate Kid protagonists, who were inexperienced in martial arts before they met their teacher, Li Fong is already shown to be training in Kung Fu, which gives him a place to start, primarily when training Victor Lipani to help him get back on his feet, and later training in Miyagi-Do Karate.
  • The movie also inverts the usual formula of an adult training a kid or teenager, with the student instead training the master, specifically Li training Victor in Kung Fu, which helps him get back into boxing.
• Call-Back:
  • The Karate Kid (1984):
    • Like Daniel, Li has moved homes and is a newcomer. His Dragon Kick also calls to mind Daniel's own Crane Kick.
    • Daniel advises Li to sweep the leg against Conor, which parallels how Kreese instructed Johnny to do the same against Daniel himself back in the 1984 All Valley tournament.
  • The Karate Kid Part II:
    • Conor casually countering Li's prized technique, the Dragon Kick, is reminiscent of Chozen doing the same against Daniel's Crane Kick, which won him the tournament against Johnny.
    • Just like Mr. Miyagi, Li opts not to give Connor a final blow after winning, instead faking everyone out by landing his fist right beside his head.
  • The Karate Kid Part III: Li's Dragon Kick winds up fulfilling the same role as Daniel's kata: distracting the opponent before following up with the real attack.
  • The Karate Kid (2010):
    • Mr. Han has opened his own kung-fu school after the events of the 2010 film, whose ending had the Fighting Dragons Studio students properly recognizing him as sifu.
    • Mr. Han's kung-fu students are seen performing the "jacket-on, jacket-off" technique". Later, Li trains by doing hanging sit-ups while performing the technique, and Han uses the jacket technique when throwing Li.
  • Cobra Kai:
    • The Five Boroughs Karate Tournament is similar to the final Sekai Taikai matches in that the point system prioritizes knockout blows over regular hits.
    • Tory won her fight against Zara by dodging the latter's acrobatic kicks and hitting the latter after she landed. Here, Conor carries out the same strategy to beat Li's high-flying Dragon Kick.
    • Daniel and Mr. Han's argument about karate versus kung fu is similar to Daniel and Johnny's debate about Miyagi-Do karate versus Cobra Kai karate, although Daniel's conflict with Mr. Han is more of a Friendly Rivalry. Li learns how to combine both martial arts, similar to how the teen protagonists synthesized the aforementioned karate styles in Cobra Kai.
    • Just as how Johnny caught Wolf off guard with a drop sweep, Li utilizes the same technique against Conor to knock him off balance.
• The Cameo: In the post-credits scene, William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence.
• Canon Welding: The 2010 film was originally detached from the rest of the series narratively. This film not only sees Chan reprising his role as Mr. Han from that film to ask Macchio's Daniel for aid in teaching his new student, and having known Mr. Miyagi in the past, but also establishes a connection between the Miyagi and Han families going back to Shimpo Miyagi.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Double Subverted. Li is shown being taught the Dragon Kick by his older brother Bo, and Li thinks he'll never master it. By the time of his first fight Conor, Li has mastered it, but Conor is able to counter it with a hook kick. Later, when training for the 4 Burroughs tournament with Han and Daniel, Li relates this event, which gives Daniel the idea of using the Dragon Kick as bait in their "tiger trap": use the Dragon Kick to force Conor to repeat his previous counter, then counter that.
  • During Li's training, Daniel and Han demonstrate numerous counter throws on Li. In the climax, when Conor goes for a sneak attack against Li, the latter uses Daniel's throw against him.
• Comically Missing the Point: Johnny doesn't understand why Daniel finds a Miyagi-themed pizza parlor insensitive. His first thought is that it would be offensive to pizza, then wondering if Miyagi didn't like pizza.
• Continuity Nod:
  • There is a shot of an Okinawan hand drum lying below Mr. Miyagi's portrait.
  • When Jackie Chan's name is shown in the Creative Closing Credits, one of the sketch animations is a fly being killed with a flyswatter, referencing Mr. Han's introduction in the 2010 film.
  • During Johnny's comedic pitch for a potential pizza place, he lists several iconic phrases of the franchise as pun-laden slogans.
    "Miyagi-Dough. Pepperoni is the best defense. Miyagi-Dough. Slice first, slice hard, no anchovies. It's a billion-dollar idea, LaRusso! Miyagi-Dough, Miyagi-Dough... Olives on, olives off."
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Conor Day is an arrogant karateka just like Johnny Lawrence, Chozen Toguchi, Mike Barnes, Ned Randall, Cheng, and Kyler Park as the bullies and rivals of the protagonists (Daniel, Julie, Dre, and Miguel). He is also more impulsive, destructive, and emotionally unbalanced, demonstrated as he indirectly and directly shoves or attacks the referee, and does something that even the aforementioned six are never seen to do in a tournament: attacks his opponent from behind after the match is finished, with him being defeated.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
  • This is the first to have a Karate Kid protagonist be of Asian descent, with Ben Wang starring as Li Fong. He succeeds Miguel Diaz (Hispanic), Dre Parker (Black), Julie Pierce (female Caucasian), and of course, Daniel LaRusso (male Caucasian).
  • Li is not a newbie who knows very little martial arts and finds a teacher, but has been training for a long time with his Uncle Han. This makes his rival Conor a particularly nasty fighter, and his later training by Han and Daniel less about building up muscle memory but helping him strategize against a bigger opponent.
• Contrasting Sequel Setting: This is the first Karate Kid film to take place in New York. The trilogy (and Cobra Kai) mainly took place in the San Fernando Valley part of California (with Part II taking place in Okinawa), Next took place in Boston, and the 2010 film mainly took place in China.
• Creative Closing Credits: The credits play over neon sketch animations of symbols and objects from the film.
• Dirty Coward:
  • O'Shea's thugs are ruthless and try to brutally beat Victor for failing to pay off his debt but when Li fights them off, one starts using a trashcan lid to block and then they run away when they can't beat him.
  • The opponent that Li's brother beat in a tournament decides to bring a bunch of thugs to beat him up after losing and then pulls out a knife. Doubles as Sore Loser.
• Distant Prologue: The film begins by revisiting the scene in The Karate Kid Part II where Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel the story of the origins of Miyagi karate in China.
• Expy: A given for all characters to their original counterparts, being a soft reboot / Distant Sequel of the original Karate Kid movies. Also doubles as Generation Xerox.
  • Li Fong is this film's Karate Kid, like Daniel LaRusso, Julie Pierce, and Dre Parker before him. To an extent, he can also be this to Cobra Kai's Miguel Diaz (starting out as a bullied new kid before learning karate) and Robby Keene (another protégé of LaRusso).
  • Speaking of Daniel LaRusso, he once again plays the role of his late mentor, Mr. Miyagi (see Generation Xerox). Except this time, he has another Miyagi Expy (Mr. Han) train with him.
  • Dr. Fong is the single, struggling mother who works hard to raise her Karate Kid child, like Lucille LaRusso, Louisa Pierce, and Sherry Parker before her. To an extent, she can also be this to Cobra Kai's Carmen Diaz, who also works in a hospital, like her.
  • Mia Lipani plays the role of the Karate Kid's Love Interest, like Ali Mills in Part I, Kumiko Tanaka in Part II, Jessica Andrews in Part III, Eric McGowan in Next, and Meiying in the 2010 film before her. To an extent, she can also be this to Cobra Kai's Samantha LaRusso.
  • Alan takes on the role as the male friend to this film's Karate Kid, like Freddy Fernandez and Harry before him. Except unlike Freddy (who is more or less a Fair-Weather Friend that ditches Daniel the moment Johnny beats the latter up) or Harry (who disappears altogether for no other reason), Alan becomes Li's Best Friend, going as far as to allow him to use his rooftop to train with Daniel and Mr. Han, as well as set him up on a date with Mia.
  • Conor Day plays the role of The Rival to this film's Karate Kid, like Johnny Lawrence in Part I, Chozen Toguchi in Part II, Mike Barnes in Part III, Ned Randall in Next, and Cheng in the 2010 film before him. To an extent, he can also be this to Cobra Kai's Kyler Park, being The Bully as well.
  • O'Shea is the Evil Mentor and owner of the Demolition Martial Arts dojo that the rival of this film's Karate Kid fights for, like John Kreese, Paul Dugan, and Master Li before him. To an extent, the threat he poses outside of the dojo, as well as his status as a presumably wealthy Loan Shark with Mooks working under him draws parallels to the other Cobra Kai founder, Terry Silver.
  • The Demolition Martial Arts plays the role as this film's Thug Dojo, like the original Cobra Kai, Alpha Elite, and the Fighting Dragons studio before it.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Daniel and Johnny still hang out together after the events of Cobra Kai and are implied to be business partners.
• Generation Xerox: While fans of Cobra Kai can already see the parallels between Mr. Miyagi and the older Daniel LaRusso, Mr. Han lampshades this by telling Daniel to be to Li Fong what Mr. Miyagi was to him.
  • ​On a more darker note, Mr. Han's niece Dr. Fong lost one of her sons, not unlike how Mr. Han lost his son, even if for different reasons; Han losing his son in a car crash, and Fong's son being murdered by an opponent.
• Halfway Plot Switch: The first half of the movie is an inversion of the series' usual formula, where the "karate kid" is actually the teacher, as Li trains Victor for his boxing comeback to help him win the money he needs to pay off his loan sharks. After this goes disastrously wrong, the film switches to the plot advertised by the trailers, in which Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso team up to train Li for a karate tournament against his school bully so Li can win the money for Victor himself.
• History Repeats: Once again, Daniel attempts to teach Miyagi-Do karate to a student alongside someone else as his co-sensei, but the contradictions between the styles they teach cause some friction along the way.
• Hourglass Plot: While we've already seen Daniel LaRusso as a sensei in Cobra Kai, it's still a massive turn around seeing the original Karate Kid become the teacher in the latest Karate Kid movie, contrasting to how Daniel started the franchise as a student.
• Hypocritical Humour: Mr. Han orders a hotdog from a stand while at New York. Then when Li orders a hotdog for himself from the same stand immediately after, Mr. Han yoinks it out of his hand and replaces it with an apple, telling him it's not healthy and eating his own hotdog.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Li befriends Victor Lipani, the father of his love interest Mia, becoming his personal trainer by teaching him Kung Fu, helping him get back into boxing.
• Karma Houdini: Just about every villain receives no punishment for their actions.
  • There is absolutely zero indication of the boxer receiving any form of punishment (other than possibly getting disqualified since the referee was trying to stop him) for using illegal moves against Victor and sending him to the hospital.
  • O'Shea never gets punished for harassing, injuring, and cheating in a boxing match by giving the opponent a signal to use illegal moves to send Victor to the hospital.
  • Conor refuses to bow to Li before their final fight, and while the crowd reacts with displeasure, he receives not so much as a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Conor is also not reprimanded for getting the referee involved in the fight twice. The first was easily an accident, as Conor kicked Li into the ref and both went down, but the second time, Conor actively shoves the ref away as Conor is getting back up. And while the fight was over and Li was already the victor, Conor is also not shown to be punished for trying to attack Li from behind after losing.
• Lighter and Softer: Compared to the 2010 film and especially Cobra Kai, Legends has a more welcoming atmosphere with Li having a bit of an easier time integrating himself into New York and making some friends. Conor bullies Li, but very mildly compared to depictions of bullying in other entries in the franchise, and Li's motive is less personal gain against Conor and more for using the prize money to save Victor's pizzeria, as well as dealing with his own inner turmoil, which has precisely nothing to do with Conor at all.
• Made of Iron: Li during his brawl against O'Shea's thugs is hit by planks, thrown onto the ground, and knocked onto a car, and still manages to beat them in a fight with only a few minor injuries.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: At the beginning, when Mr. Han's niece Dr. Fong pays him a visit at his wuguan, the former immediately has one of his students try and stall the latter, acting as if introducing the school and its teachings to a would-be newcomer. Dr. Fong isn't fooled, and immediately figures out that her uncle told her to distract her, despite her denying it. Her reaction suggests that this isn't the first time her uncle Han pulled off something like this, especially considering how Dr. Fong lost one of her sons, not wanting the same to happen to Li.
• One-Steve Limit: Way back in the 2010 film, Mr. Han and Dre Parker dealt with the sifu of the Fighting Dragons studio, named Master Li. Here, this movie's protagonist is Mr. Han's grand-nephew, named Li Fong.
• Out of Focus: Despite being a sequel to the 2010 film, which does bring back Mr. Han, his student Dre Parker and his mom Sherry are nowhere to be seen or are even mentioned here, and neither is Cheng, Dre's bully, his gang, who all left Master Li after Dre's victory.
• Parents as People: Being a recurring trope in Cobra Kai, it's prevalent here:
  • Li's mother is shown to be working many hospital jobs, but she does care about her son's safety, mainly because she lost one of her sons, Bo, indirectly because of Kung Fu, and doesn't want Li to get affected similarly, even as he is training. Furthermore, when she learns that he had returned to martial arts despite his promise, having been training Victor Lipani to help him get back into boxing, she is quick to help him recover, and doesn't seem entirely upset with her son. After her uncle, Mr. Han arrives in New York, she is willing to trust him in training Li, and in the end, attends the tournament in which Li wins.
  • Victor Lipani, Mia's father, is established at first talking down upon Li, albeit jokingly, but is told off by Mia. Later on, when Li tries to fix Mia's motorbike, he has to deal with some thugs belonging to Victor's Loan Shark, O'Shea, at first trying to reason with them since Li's just a kid, but he gets knocked out, forcing Li to save him. He later reveals to Li that he was once a skilled boxer, but was forced to retire as Mia entered his life, and was unfortunate to take a loan from O'Shea, his rival, which has led to numerous attacks in the past, as part of paying it. After he loses his boxing match, which could have paid his debt, he kindly tells Li that he doesn't have to feel bad about helping him, even though Mr. Han retorts the importance of helping a friend who needs it. On another note, he doesn't take too kindly to seeing his daughter Mia kissing Li before his match, but gets over it eventually.
• Product Placement: Advertisements for Tekken 8 are present throughout the film.
• Remember the New Guy?: This movie reveals that Mr. Han has a niece, Dr. Fong, who also has a son, named Li. Back in the 2010 film, Mr. Han was shown to be living alone, after the deaths of his wife and son in a car crash, and it was implied that he didn't have any other relatives, at least back then. We never really learn if Dre Parker got to meet Mr. Han's niece and grand-nephew after the film's events.
• Revision: When the scene from The Karate Kid Part II explaining the history of Miyagi-do karate is revisited, dialogue is added to include the detail that it was the Han family who took Shimpo Miyagi in, and that a bond between the families that remains to the present was formed.
• Revisiting the Roots: This film brings back Daniel LaRusso, and references Mr. Miyagi, two things the 2010 film omitted.
• Romantic Wingman: Alan helps Li throughout the movie to impress Mia; this goes from pretending that he's acing his homework to accompanying the two for an entire evening meant to bring them together.
• Running Gag: Li is playfully referred to as "Stuffed Crust" by Mia and Victor, and later during the 5 Boroughs, due to him asking for stuffed crust pizza when he first arrives in New York. After Li's victory in the tournament allows Victor to open a second pizzeria, they start serving stuffed crust as a limited time offer.
• Series Continuity Error: The flashback at the beginning of the film to Mr. Miyagi explaining the origins of Miyagi-Do to Daniel is labeled as taking place in Okinawa, 1986. While this is indeed the release year of The Karate Kid Part II where the scene's footage originates from, the in-universe timeline usually places that movie's events in 1985, six months after Daniel won the 1984 All Valley tournament in the first movie and before he wins the 1985 tournament in the third movie.
• Shout-Out: Mia says that Victor referred to Li as "the Chinese Peter Parker" after witnessing him fight off O'Shea's mooks.
• Sore Loser:
  • After Li's brother wins a tournament, his opponent brings his friends to beat him up and then kill him.
  • Zigzagged for Conor Day. After losing in the finals, he tries to attack Li only to be knocked down by him. Afterwards, he finally buries the hatchet with Li and accepts his defeat.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Li's Dragon Kick is a flashy flying kick with a long windup, so long in fact that an experienced fighter like Conor has enough time to think up a counter move on the spot. While the Dragon Kick is pivotal to Li's victory in the final fight, Li never actually lands the kick against Conor, who dodges it like he did in the school fight; instead, he uses it to bait Conor in, having trained to dodge his counterattack.
• The Stinger: Daniel returns home and receives a pizza from Li as a thank you for his help. He tries to share it with Johnny, who suggests that they start a pizzeria called Miyagi-Dough.
• Switch to English: When Li's mother tells him they're moving to America, she switches to English so they can practice. Li later reveals to Mia that he learnt English in an American-style school, during his time living in Hong Kong, as part of his mother's job.
• Training from Hell: Played more comedically, when Han and Daniel get involved in Li's training they start competing over the best approach and Li ends up getting the brunt of things. One in particular is a session on counter throws that has Li thrown to the ground about 10 times in sequence.
  Li: (grunting in pain) There was a weird noise from my hip.
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot: Mr. Han travels from Beijing to New York (a 15.5 hour flight). He's in New York long enough to spend the night at the Fong household before flying to Los Angeles for a brief conversation with Daniel LaRusso (a six hour flight), and then back to New York again.
• Wax On, Wax Off: Victor asked for Li to help train him to get back into boxing and Li takes Mr. Han's "everything is kung fu" approach, applying it to making pizza including pounding the dough and spreading the sauce in particular ways. This is otherwise averted for Li himself, as he's already gone past the introductory training and first seen training on a wooden dummy, making the Training Montage at the end more Improvised Training.