Legends And Cobra Kai Rights Issues Explained

Karate Kid: Legends was one among this yr’s most anticipated blockbusters, significantly following the conclusion of Cobra Kai‘s sixth season. Nonetheless, many followers had been left upset when the film did not acknowledge any of the main points from the Netflix present. In actual fact, not one of the unique characters even appeared within the movie.

Cobra Kai ended with Johnny in the end defeating Wolf by going in opposition to his personal “strike first” mantra, permitting him to reclaim his outdated Cobra Kai dojo. This conclusion gave everyone the glad endings they deserved, and set a transparent basis for the beloved characters to return within the current film. However Karate Kid: Legends steered clear of anything Cobra Kai-specific.

Karate Child: Legends Might Not Use Something From Cobra Kai Due To Rights Points

In the end, the explanation why not one of the unique Cobra Kai characters appeared in Karate Child: Legends is that the filmmakers merely did not have the rights to make use of them. The Karate Child motion pictures are the property of Columbia Footage, whereas the rights to Cobra Kai are owned solely by Netflix.

The issue is barely extra difficult than this, however the normal precept is that something initially created by Cobra Kai (as in, that which doesn’t seem within the unique Karate Child motion pictures) can solely be utilized by Netflix. Since Netflix was not concerned within the making of Legends, this excluded sure characters from showing within the story.

Director Jonathan Entwistle has been very open concerning the authorized restrictions that had been concerned within the making of Karate Child: Legends. He defined, “We might at all times use Daniel and Miyagi, however any components which can be Cobra Kai-specific aren’t a Columbia Footage property.“

To know precisely why these restrictions are in place, it is useful to look again on the early days of Cobra Kai, when it was initially a YouTube Purple property. The streaming rights had been then claimed by Netflix — crucially, not Sony Footage, which produces the present. It is barely murky territory, however Netflix in the end maintains inventive management.

Importantly, this solely applies to the unique characters from Cobra Kai, which is strictly why figures like Daniel and Johnny had been allowed to look within the current film. William Zabka has a quick cameo on the end of Karate Kid: Legends, which basically confirms that the film and Cobra Kai are nonetheless related regardless of the authorized difficulties.

Though Legends doesn’t follow up on Cobra Kai that effectively, the film nonetheless does a great job of continuous the franchise in a manner that is devoted to the unique motion pictures with out bypassing any of the authorized restrictions that include the Netflix deal. It units an essential precedent that the Karate Child franchise can proceed with out undermining Cobra Kai.

Karate Child’s Rights Points Complicate The Franchise’s Future

That being mentioned, the truth that any future Karate Child motion pictures will basically must be written round Cobra Kai creates some unnecessary complexities that might spell bother for the franchise. It is at all times irritating when particular characters and storylines inside a franchise are owned by totally different studios, as we have not too long ago seen with ongoing initiatives just like the MCU.

There are a number of choices for Karate Child going into the longer term. Firstly, the franchise might proceed to disregard Cobra Kai altogether and simply use the characters that Columbia Footage already has possession of. That is essentially the most wise possibility, however it will even be very irritating for devoted followers who’ve caught with the present for six seasons.

Alternatively, the franchise might try and stability these two properties by having devoted Karate Kid sequels and Cobra Kai sequels that reference one another however by no means explicitly cross paths. This might keep the interconnectivity of the franchise with out really violating any of the authorized restrictions on character utilization.

Sadly, even this compromise comes with its personal obstacles. It is doable that since Karate Child: Legends is a more moderen sequel that was created after the settlement with Netflix, Cobra Kai could not even have the rights to reference it, and thus would not even be capable of acknowledge something happening outdoors of its personal borders.

The Netflix present was given permission to make use of characters and tales from the unique Karate Child motion pictures, however it is unclear whether or not this settlement extends to future sequels like Legends. Your complete scenario is ambiguous, and this makes it very troublesome to think about what the way forward for the Karate Child franchise might plausibly seem like.

The one remaining choice to bridge these two properties is a recent settlement between Netflix, Columbia, and Sony, by which each sequence might be given extra inventive freedom. This might be a mutually useful contract that opens the door for Cobra Kai and Karate Child to remain alive with out cannibalizing one another’s success, not in contrast to Sony’s personal cope with Marvel Studios over the usage of Spider-Man.

This looks as if essentially the most logical step ahead for the franchise, and with Cobra Kai officially over, Netflix would hopefully be extra open to promoting the franchise rights over to Columbia. Cobra Kai has been a vastly profitable present all through its years on Netflix, and it will be a large disgrace if the Karate Child motion pictures needed to fake it had by no means occurred.

Launch Date

Might 30, 2025

Runtime

94 minutes

Director

Jonathan Entwistle