2018 saw Ralph Macchio reprise his role of Daniel LaRusso from the 1980s Karate Kid movies in the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai which recently wrapped up its fifth season. The show follows Daniel many years after his story in The Karate Kid. He is now fully grown up and has a daughter of his own and continues to live life on the principles that he learned from his mentor in The Karate Kid movies, Mr. Miyagi.
The character of Mr. Miyagi was played by Pat Morita, who passed away in 2005, and just like Mr. Miyagi was a mentor to Daniel LaRusso in the movies, in real life, Pat Morita was an influential figure in the life of Ralph Macchio.
Over the years, Ralph Macchio has maintained the importance of the influence of Pat Morita on the Karate Kid franchise and he continues to stand by that statement in terms of Cobra Kai.
In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Ralph Macchio expressed that he would like a prequel either as a movie or in a series format that explores the past of the character of Mr. Miyagi. A brief account of Miyagi’s past was given in the Karate Kid movies where it was revealed that he was a soldier in World War 2 and spent time in US concentration camps, but a lot of his past is still unknown. Ralph Macchio expressed his interest in exploring it in the following words:
“Whether it be in the front of it, or on the periphery, or just involved in some way – because I was there from the beginning with these characters – I would love to be included in [a spin-off]. And there are those discussions going on, although it is not a solidified idea or production at this point.
“But it seems to me it’s just… How do we not explore the backstory of and the origin of Mr. Miyagi? And what happened? What brought him to that place; working in that apartment in Reseda? What was his life before then? I think that would be fascinating.”
Fans have shown great support to the revival of The Karate Kid franchise in the form of Cobra Kai and it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the same excitement could be found for a Mr. Miyagi centered prequel.