Sony's 'Karate Kid: Legends' Must Appeal to Three Different Fandoms

The "legacy sequel" will aim to please fans of the 1980s movies, the Jaden Smith/Jackie Chan-starring 2010 remake and Netflix's 'Cobra Kai' six-season streaming show

Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends trailer is an odd duck. It’s a standard pitch for a franchise continuation of this sort, with a younger, “not a white guy” protagonist (Ben Wang) undergoing a near-identical journey with the eventual help of the former franchise protagonist now playing the role of the elderly mentor instead of the hero. 63-year-old Ralph Macchio still looks like he gets carded for R-rated movies. So it’s amusing for him, in the context of this pitch, to be playing “old-and-cranky franchise vet.” Second, not only are we supposed to believe that a martial arts instructor/mentor played by Jackie Chan would need help from Daniel LaRusso, but this franchise has already played all of these cards before.