The Next Karate Kid helped launch the career of Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, but she didn’t reprise her role in the first five seasons of Cobra Kai. That needs to change in the final episodes of Season 6.
The original Karate Kid franchise spanned four films, and was a movie series of diminishing returns, with each entry a bit worse than the last.
The Next Karate Kid hit screens in 1994, was the final film in the Miyagi iteration of the franchise, and carries a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 7%.
But as characters from the first three films have all appeared in Netflix series Cobra Kai, we’ve been hoping Swank would reprise her Karate Kid role in the show’s final season.
Does Hilary Swank play Julie Pierce in Season 6 of Cobra Kai?
No, Hilary Swank does not return as Julie Pierce in Part 1 or Part 2 of Cobra Kai Season 6. But – and it’s a big but – there’s evidence to suggest she will appear in Part 3.
You can read our recap of all five episodes in Part 1 of Cobra Kai Season 6, as well as our Part 2 recaps, where there’s no sign of Swank’s character, and no mention of Julie Pierce. Which means the full Karate Kid picture isn’t complete.
However, when the show delves into the mystery of Mr. Myagi’s box, there’s a clue that might connect the character to this series of Cobra Kai.
In The Karate Kid Part II, we see that Daniel’s mentor’s full name is Nariyoshi Miyagi. Which is also on his tombstone when Daniel visits his grave in Cobra Kai.
But the box contains a news clipping about a crime committed by someone called Kesuke Miyagi. As well as a passport with Mr. Miyagi’s face, but the Kesuke Miyagi name.
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Daniel thinks that his old friend might have switched identity to escape his past, though that’s purely speculation at this point in the Cobra Kai story.
What’s important is the fact that during The Next Karate Kid – when attending an event to commemorate his WWII battalion – Mr. Miyagi is called… Kesuke Miyagi!
Unless the filmmakers were playing a very long game – in advance of Cobra Kai some 30 years later – this is likely a continuity error. But the team behind the Netflix series is now taking advantage of that mistake, to lend some mystery to Miyagi’s back-story.
But it also now connects the events of Cobra Kai directly with The Next Karate Kid, and therefore opens the door for Hilary Swank to return as Julie Pierce.
When asked if he’d like to see that happen at a screening this week, Daniel LaRusso actor Ralph Macchio told EW: “Who doesn’t? That’s the one piece that would be interesting.”
And that non-denial suggests we’ll be seeing Swank Part 3 of Cobra Kai, and if not then during the new Karate Kid movie arriving in 2025, to finally complete the Karate Kid picture.
For news of when to expect those final Cobra Kai instalments head here. While we’ve also got details of the forgotten action movie mentioned in Part 1, as well as the surprising cameo in Part 2.
