Karate Kid: Legendsis one of the most exciting movies releasing this year, serving as the first connective tissue between the originalKarate Kidmovies and the 2010 reboot film. The upcoming sequel brings a new central Karate Kid to the franchise, uniting Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han to continue to uphold Mr. Miyagi’s legacy.Karate Kid:Legendsjust released a new trailer, showing off the character that will likely take on the role of the main bully character, the most notable of which was the originalKarateKid’s Johnny Lawrence.
WhileKarate Kid: Legends' returning castis certainly its main draw, and the most exciting aspect of the movie will be seeing Macchio and Chan’s characters meet and work together, the new additions to the franchise are also shaping up to be great.Karate Kid: Legends' storyseems to be taking a lot of inspiration from the original film, with a down-on-his-luck kid taking on a bully in a karate tournament with the help of his wise mentor. However,the film is also clearly taking inspiration from otherKarate Kidmedia, which also manifests in the new bully’s look.
Connor Seems To Be The New Johnny Lawrence In Karate Kid: Legends
A New Character Is Taking Up The Bully Mantle In Legends
Johnny Lawrence’s replacement inKarate Kid: Legendsis clearly going to be the new character Connor, played by relative newcomer Aramis Knight. The trailer doesn’t show off too many details of the character, but he will clearly take on the bully role throughout the film.He is shown to be the best fighter in New York, winning multiple versions of the Big Apple’s version of the All-Valley Tournament, known as the 5 Boroughs, obviously a reference to the five boroughs of New York City.
Sorry Daniel LaRusso, But The New Karate Kid Has Already Surpassed You
The newest trailer for Karate Kid: Legends has proven that the new titular character is already better than Daniel LaRusso was in his trilogy.
The similarities betweenJohnny in the originalKarate Kidand Connor inLegendsare very obvious, seemingly down to their personalities as well. While introducing a character so similar to one that has been in the series before is a risk,this new sequel is very much trying to emulate the original movie, and after the success ofCobra Kai, which turned a lot of the history of the series on its head, a throwback to the classic story from 1984 sounds like a great breath of fresh air for the franchise.
Connor’s Ponytail Reminds Me Of A Different Karate Kid Villain Entirely
The Character Looks Similar To Another Classic Karate Kid Villain
One aspect of Connor’s design that remained consistent throughout the trailer was his ponytail, which, in and of itself, isn’t really a big deal, as it is a fairly standard aspect of his look. However, in theKarate Kidfranchise,the ponytail is the signature look of one of the series' most iconic villains, Terry Silver. Terry was introduced inThe Karate KidPart IIIas a friend to John Kreese, who hopes to revive Cobra Kai, ruthlessly training and abusing Daniel, before his champion is ultimately defeated at the All-Valley tournament.
Connor’s similar hairstyle seems to be positioning him in a similar way to Terry Silver fromPart III.
However,Silver played a much more prominent role inCobra Kai, where he was reintroduced as one of the major antagonists of that show during season 4, andremained one of the major players for the rest of the series. Silver’s ponytail was a big part of his design, enough that it kept being referenced whenever he showed up and committed his villainous acts, and Connor’s similar hairstyle seems to be positioning him in a similar way to Terry Silver fromPart III.
Karate Kid: Legends Needs A Great Antagonist After Cobra Kai’s Amazing Villains
Legends Can’t Fall Flat On The Villain Front
While Cobra Kai was initially sold on the return of Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso, eventually, the show brought back nearly all themajor cast members from the originalKarate Kidmovies, including pretty much every major antagonist. By the time the show had really gotten going,the villains were easily some of the best parts, with John Kreese’s return being a major turning point, and Terry Silver immediately reached iconicKarate Kidcharacter status as he became the biggest overarching threat in the series.
Zara Malik
Rayna Vallandingham
With that legacy now built up out ofCobra Kai,Legendswill have to follow that up witha new antagonist that is just as entertaining as the ones who came before. If Connor does end up being very similar to Johnny Lawrence, there are still plenty of things that the filmmakers could do to make him stand out as a great villain. Even ifKarate Kid: Legendsdoesn’t include all the classicCobra Kaicharacters, it can still uphold the legacy of that show by introducing another greatKarate Kidantagonist.
