One Detail From 2024’s Karate Kid Movie Reboot Confirms That Cobra Kai Will Never Die

The Karate Kid franchise is continuing with a new movie in 2024, and the film is already proving that Cobra Kai will continue to be a significant influence. The Netflix series will wrap up with its sixth and final season in 2024, assumedly before the Karate Kid reboot movie is released. It’s a one-door-closes kind of moment, which is bittersweet considering the success of Johnny Lawrence’s anti-hero story. However, as new details arise about the 2024 Karate Kid movie, it’s clear that Cobra Kai‘s ending doesn’t mean the series is dead.

The Karate Kid franchise has spanned decades, with the first movie starring Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso released in 1984. From there, we got the two direct sequels, followed by The Next Karate Kid (1994), starring Hilary Swank as Mr. Miyagi’s new student, and the 2010 The Karate Kid reboot movie with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Still, the TV series Cobra Kai gave the franchise new life, allowing for a brand new movie (starring Macchio and Chan together) to get the green light. Ultimately, this fact seems to have contributed to a new approach for the upcoming movie.

The 2024 Karate Kid Logo Looks Similar To Cobra Kai’s

Take A Look At The Official Logo For 2024’s Karate Kid Movie

As filming begins for Karate Kid, Sony Pictures has posted images on Twitter that feature the official logo for the 2024 movie, and the text is somewhat different than what was seen for previous The Karate Kid movies. Macchio’s original film featured a title in simple block text, which fit well with the elegant images used for posters and movie covers. The 2010 The Karate Kid movie also featured a block text logo, though it was this time colored in a way that looked more distressed. On the other hand, the 2024 Karate Kid logo has a messier, brush-stroke sort of look.

The style choice for the logo for Karate Kid is far closer to that of Cobra Kai, which also looks as if it was written hastily with a calligraphy brush. It’s an edgier look than the clean and crisp text of Macchio’s The Karate Kid movies, which seems to indicate that, regarding tone, the upcoming film will follow Cobra Kai‘s example. Given the Netflix series’ massive success, this makes perfect sense.

Why An Edgier Karate Kid Movie Makes Sense For The Franchise

Leaving Behind Cobra Kai’s Edgier Tone Would Be A Huge Mistake For Cobra Kai

Johnny’s story in Cobra Kai may have been a continuation of the 1980s Karate Kid movies, but the series was approached as a complete inverse. As Daniel’s original villain, Johnny was an anti-hero, and with the focus on the problematic Cobra Kai dojo, the episodes needed an aggressive approach. By turning the original movies on their head, making Daniel more like an antagonist, and turning Johnny into the new Mr. Miyagi, Cobra Kai achieved something that most other nostalgic reboots and sequels do not—it effectively brought an old franchise back to life.

Now, with Cobra Kai coming to a close and the franchise diving back into a more traditional Karate Kid movie, it’s smart that Sony Pictures would choose to carry over some of this edginess. So far, it seems that the 2024 movie is trying to find a balance between what worked for each installment. Between Macchio’s Daniel from the original movies, Chan’s Mr. Han from the 2010 reboot, and the modern tone of Cobra Kai, there is an excellent chance that Karate Kid will be the perfect franchise capper, working both as a definitive ending or an adequate launching point for further spinoffs.

The Karate Kid Can Keep Cobra Kai Alive Even After The Series Ends

Cobra Kai May Be Ending, But It IS Immortalized By Its Importance To The Overall Franchise

Considering the bittersweet ending of Cobra Kai with the upcoming season 6, there’s something comforting about the 2024 Karate Kid‘s logo. In a significant way, the Netflix series has become a foundation for the franchise as a whole. It serves as the connective tissue to the original movies, providing further context to plotlines and bringing together characters (especially villains) that never met in the The Karate Kid trilogy. This means it would be impossible to continue the Miyagiverse without considering all that Cobra Kai has established.

So far, it doesn’t look like Johnny Lawrence will be a character in Karate Kid, and the reveal that the movie will be set on the East Coast means there’s a good chance most others won’t be either. As far as most aspects of the plot and characters go, Cobra Kai, season 6 truly will be at a definitive end. However, with Karate Kid seemingly keeping its TV predecessor in mind, the world it established continues. Just as was said throughout Johnny’s story, “Cobra Kai never dies!”