As familial productions in a franchise, The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai have a lot in common - and one similarity is an obsession with Spiderman?
Perhaps one of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai's most far-out similarities is their obsession with the web-slinging superhero, Spider-Man, and the infatuation may coordinate more than just the franchise. The Karate Kid (1984) was such an undisputed sensation that its success produced three sequels and immense box office achievement for Columbia Pictures. In the late '80s, Sony Pictures would acquire The Karate Kid franchise through Columbia and lend a hand in expanding The Karate Kid universe out to include the television series and sequel spinoff, Cobra Kai.
Cobra Kai had been a welcomed addition to the original set of Karate Kid movies, as it picked up the narratives of original characters Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and more, nearly thirty years after the first on-screen All-Valley Karate Tournament. Cobra Kai has seamlessly merged into The Karate Kid universe, featuring original movie cameos, long-standing rivalries and storylines, and even proceeded to include small Easter eggs and continued motifs, like the obsession with Spider-Man.
There are a few Spider-Man references throughout the original Karate Kid movies - in the first film, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) where the guy with Spider-Man-like capabilities ran off to after saving him from a band of Cobra Kai. Of course, the hero is revealed to Daniel as Mr. Miyagi, but LaRusso would again refer to Spider-Man in The Karate Kid Part III when rappelling down to retrieve Mr. Miyagi's peculiarly growing bonsai tree from a cliff. It's possible that Daniel mentions Spider-Man numerous times because of prominent '80s superhero fads, but LaRusso could've also strongly identified specifically with Peter Parker's underdog narrative, reminiscent of Daniel's past and future battles.
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