Karate Kidfans know that 2025 will be a bittersweet year for them. Aside from saying goodbye to the long-running and hit Netflix seriesCobra Kai, they will also get the chance to watch a brand-new Karate Kid movie, asKarate Kid: Legendshits theaters on July 11, 2025. The new feature film pairs up Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) for an exciting adventure. The first trailer for the film arrived this morning, and it provides new details about where the plot is headed.
EveryCobra KaiandKarate Kidfan will get chills when Mr. Han starts narrating and tells Daniel LaRusso that he didn’t go to his dojo looking forthe late Mr. Miyagi(Pat Morita), he is there looking for LaRusso. As one might expect, there will be a lot of jacket-removing and putting on as Mr. Han takes on the tutelage of Li (Ben Wang). And, from the looks of it, the boy is to Hanwhat LaRusso was to Miyagi, and all of them will band together in order to create a new legacy.
The trailer also makes it clear that newcomer Wang is pretty much amartial artsmaster—something that the actor already demonstrated in the Disney+ seriesAmerican Born Chinese. The boy will have an arc similar to the young LaRussoin the 80s franchise: suffer a dose of bullying, have a lot of bottled-up anger, and eventually learn how to channel his frustration into martial arts techniques. Even though we are all interested in checking up on Han and LaRusso, it looks likeKarate Kid: Legendswill give its new character plenty of room to shine and conquer audiences' hearts and minds.
‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Features Several Newcomers To The Franchise
Karate Kid: Legendsis directed byJonathan Entwistle, who previously wrote and directed episodes from series likeThe End of The F*** WorldandI Am Not Okay With This. The new installment of theKarate Kidfranchise will be his first blockbuster. The screenplay is written byRob Lieber, who also pennedPeter RabbitandAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The cast also featuresJoshua Jackson(Dr. Death),Ming-Na Wen(Mulan),Sadie Stanley(Cruel Summer) andShaunette Renée Wilson(The Resident).
For fans who are wondering, it doesn’t look like there will be any overlap betweenthe final episodes ofCobra KaiandKarate Kid: Legends. The trailer makes no mention of the events of the series, and no other characters from the show besides LaRusso make an appearance. So far, it looks like all moviegoers will need to know going into the new installment is that LaRusso opened his own dojowith Johnny Lawrence(William Zabka).
Karate Kid: Legendspremieres in theaters on May 30. You can check out the trailer above and the film’s synopsis is as follows:
In Karate Kid: Legends, after a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang) is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. Li struggles to let go of his past as he tries to fit in with his new classmates, and although he doesn’t want to fight, trouble seems to find him everywhere. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren’t enough. Li’s kung fu teacher Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
