It's time to meet the next Karate Kid protagonist. Three new images from the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends have been released, offering fans their first look at Ben Wang's Li Fong, who will be mentored by Jackie Chan's Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso.
Entertainment Weekly shared the images as part of its "2025 Preview First Look" series. The first shows Mr. Han, Li Fong, and Daniel LaRusso looking at a map of New York City's five boroughs, while the next two offer a glimpse at Li Fong's martial arts training. Some new plot details were also shared alongside the images, revealing that teenager Li was originally based in Beijing before moving to New York City with his mother, played by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. alum Ming-Na Wen. Li has a hard time adjusting to NYC, especially his new school, and "he keeps getting dragged into fights he would very much like to avoid." Check out the new Karate Kid: Legends images below.
The official plot synopsis for the upcoming Sony Pictures movie reads as follows, "When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition — but his skills alone aren’t enough. Li’s kung fu teacher Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown."
Besides Macchio, Chan, Wang, and Wen, the cast for Karate Kid: Legacy includes Sadie Stanley (The Goldbergs) as Li Fong's romantic interest, Joshua Jackson (The Mighty Ducks) as her father Victor, and Shaunette Renée Wilson (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) as Ms. Morgan, with Aramis Knight (Ms. Marvel), Wyatt Oleff (It), Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones), and Jennifer-Lyn Christie (Mother!) cast in undisclosed roles.
Karate Kid: Legends Expands the Miyagiverse
Karate Kid: Legends is unique in that it brings together the worlds of the Miyagiverse — a term coined by the Cobra Kai creators to refer to any project in The Karate Kid franchise that featured Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi — and the 2010 reboot, which starred Chan and Jaden Smith and was previously believed to have taken place in a separate continuity. Speaking with EW, Legends director Jonathan Entwistle revealed how the upcoming movie seamlessly blends together these two universes. "Without giving too much away, I can say that Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi are the connection to Daniel. The Han family and the Miyagi family are connected all the way back to the old times. And there is a mention of this within the Karate Kid movie canon for those people who want to go looking for it."
Karate Kid: Legends is set after the events of Cobra Kai, the wildly successful legacy sequel series that picks up with Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence 30 years after the events of the original film trilogy. While the show's creators — Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg — were not involved with Karate Kid: Legends in an official capacity, Entwistle confirmed to EW that he "had some really detailed conversations with the Cobra Kai team about just cool stuff that we can do in the movie and can make this whole thing feel holistic." He added, "We’re really excited that we've added another piece to the overall universe."
Karate Kid: Legends is scheduled to hit theaters on May 30, 2025.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
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