SPOILER for the final season of Cobra Kai. After six seasons, the stories of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) have come to an end, at least for now. Throughout the series, we’ve seen characters from the Karate Kid franchise make appearances, but one of the most beloved of the entire franchise finally appeared in the final season.
Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Miyagi, the martial arts mentor played the the late Pat Morita. We did see the Morita version of the character make a brief appearance in the second part of Cobra Kai‘s final season, but he makes a slightly longer appearance in the final batch of episodes. Daniel has a dream in which he’s attacked by a group of figures in skeleton costumes. Out of the darkness, a man steps out of the shadows to help him —it’s none other than Nariyoshi Miagi. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Cobra Kai co-creator Hayden Schlossberg explained that they reached out to get the blessing of Morita’s estate.
“Beyond getting the approvals, Ralph has some connections to his family and wanted to explain to them what our intentions were,” Schlossberg said. “We explained there would be this first episode where it is kind of a scary version of Mr. Miyagi where he is fighting Daniel, but that it would culminate in an ultimate dream sequence where Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are fighting together, and it’s a very heartfelt scene. They were totally behind it and it’s just something that Ralph really wanted as well.“
Mr. Miyagi was brought back to life through the use of a body double, a soundalike actor, and some good old-fashioned… AI. “Then, using Pat Morita’s actual voice and AI technology, you kind of merge the two,” he said. “It was the wish fulfillment of getting to see them on screen together again. You do your best with the technology; it’s a dream sequence. We felt like it was worth doing to recreate that duo on screen again.” If you’ve seen the episode, you’ll know that while the effect isn’t exactly perfect, it is nice to see Miyagi and Daniel share the screen once again.
Although Cobra Kai has concluded, Macchio will be returning for Karate Kid: Legends, which will hit theaters on May 30.
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