Karate Kid: Legends is set to release next year, and a new trailer has been dropped featuring Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, and the new series lead Ben Wang. Check this out:

The official description reads:

In Karate Kid: Legends, after a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang) is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. Li struggles to let go of his past as he tries to fit in with his new classmates, and although he doesn’t want to fight, trouble seems to find him everywhere.

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.

The story pretty much mirrors the original Karate Kid where they take a bullied young teen and turn him into a martial arts fighter. With the story having taken place in Los Angeles and China, now the story is set in the Concrete Jungle of New York City.

I have to admit, Cobra Kai feels like the definitive sequel to the Karate Kid franchise, but this one does have an interesting premise that it brings together the worlds of the Macchio-led universe and the one that once starred Jaden Smith.

So far, Ben Wang does seem like he has the chops to be the next lead after Xolo Mariduena. I just hope that the movie acknowledges Johnny Lawrence one way or another.

Karate Kid: Legends is set to hit theaters on May 30, 2025.

We’ve known about the cast for a while, but now director Jonathan Entwistle has confirmed the start of production by sharing the slate for Karate Kid:

 

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There’s also a photo of the slate with new lead Ben Wang (American-Born Chinese):

https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1775417879921598811

Not only will this movie be bringing back the OG Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, but the story will also be bringing into canon the 2010 Karate Kid which starred Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Though a lot of fans like to argue that KK2010 is more of Kung Fu Kid than Karate Kid, it did have its good amount of fans and it will probably tug at some nostalgia for adult Gen-Z audiences.

As for Cobra Kai fans, show creators Jon Hurwitz, John Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg may not be directly involved, but it was reported that they have given their notes to the scripts for the film, and show their full support to the director.

Personally, I’d love for there to be more appearances from Cobra Kai regulars like Billy Zabka (Johnny Lawrence) and Xolo Mariduena (Miguel Diaz), but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Heck, I’d be happy to see Jaden Smith make a cameo.

Karate Kid is set to hit theatres this coming Dec. 13.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Wang, who is the star of Disney+’s American Born Chinese is going to star in the next Karate Kid movie with Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprising their roles from their respective Karate Kid franchises.

As for Wang, he managed to stand out from thousands of entries which came from around the world, and he was said to have had a great audition that showed some deep connection to his character. It also helps that he’s already trained in several forms of martial arts including kung fu, taekwando, and karate, and he’s also fluent in Mandarin.

We don’t have a full breakdown of the story yet, but it’s said that the new Karate Kid will be taking place in the East Coast this time, and Wang will be playing a teen from China who will find their direction via the discipline of martial arts from one or two senseis.

Personally, I’m just hoping we get some kind of reference to Cobra Kai, because that show is mainly responsible for rejuvenating interest in the franchise for the past few years. Not only did they manage to introduce some new kids, but they also managed to toe the line with nostalgia that didn’t feel too pander-y to fans.

The next Karate Kid movie is expected to release in theaters Dec. 13, 2024.

As announced by Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan, they will be teaming up for a new Karate Kid film, and the search is on for a new lead. Here’s the announcement:

Though a lot of fans will attest that Xolo Mariduena was the new Karate Kid of Cobra Kai, even those kids have managed to grow up over the years, and it’s time for Gen Alpha to get their own martial arts idol.

We don’t have any details of the story yet, but fans are hoping that the movie will take into consideration the events of Cobra Kai. Of course, we also shouldn’t forget that the 2010 Karate Kid would also have its own fans, counting that the movie did make bank at the box office.

It is curious why it didn’t get a sequel though.

Seeing as a lot of fans did love Cobra Kai, it is kind of disappointing that the creators Jon Hurwitz, John Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg won’t be directly involved in the making of the film Gizmodo does report that they have seen the scripts and given their notes; plus they give director Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F**king World) their full support.

Now who do we talk to to confirm that William Zabka a.k.a. Johnny Lawrence is also in the movie?

The next Karate Kid movie is expected to come out Dec. 13, 2024.

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Probably the more unique takes on the origin is how Splinter was able to learn martial arts. In the original comic, he was the pet rat of a master called Hamato Yoshi who was killed by Shredder. In other incarnations, Splinter is Yoshi himself who was transformed into a giant rat.

When it comes to Mutant Mayhem, it looks like Splinter will originally be a rat, but we don’t know exactly how he’s going to teach his kids how to do martial arts. In the live-action Michael Bay movies, he learns from a discarded kung fu book, but maybe they found a more interesting way for him to learn when it comes to this film.

Here’s the official description for the movie:

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

Catch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem when it premieres in cinemas on Aug. 2.

Talking to CinemaBlend, Cretton admits that he wants to have action super star Jackie Chan appear in the Shang-Chi sequel. He says, “I mean, if we could ever get Jackie [Chan] into a movie that would be a lifelong dream of mine.”

Though Chan wasn’t in Shang-Chi, his influence was clear, and we can see some of that in the way that Shang-Chi fights; plus the bamboo scaffolding fight scene was something straight out of Rush Hour 2.

We don’t know how far along Cretton is with his idea for a sequel, but Chan would be an amazing addition to the MCU. With Chan being known best for his action-comedy, I’m guessing he can come off as some kind of chummy mentor to Shang-Chi; but I actually want to see him be a kind of playful villain. You don’t cast a star like Jackie Chan and have him play Obi-Wan Kenobi; he should be the Emperor (or the very least Yoda).

At 67-years-old, Chan is still doing action scenes as late as 2020, and even appeared alongside Schwarzenegger in a movie called Iron Mask (which somehow exists). Hopefully he would be up for an appearance in the MCU soon.

No release date has been revealed for the Shang-Chi sequel.

Watch this:

Here’s the official description:

Determined teen Din (Jimmy Wong) is longing to reconnect with his childhood best friend (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) when he meets a wish-granting dragon (John Cho) that leads him on an adventure a thousand years in the making.

On the surface, you can already see a lot of similarities with Disney’s animated Aladdin. Besides a magical creature from the lamp that grants three wishes, the ‘genie’ seems to have the same limitations like the ability not to make people fall in love.

I guess one difference here is that the protagonist Din has a past with his significant other Li Na, unlike Aladdin who was just smitten by Jasmine–who he had no history with.

And what’s also interesting is that the two friends Din and Li Na aren’t separated by royalty, but rather class—which is a more modern take on the classic romance. We don’t know how else the movie plans to explore the concept, but it already feels a lot like Crazy Rich Asians.

I’ll admit, the movie looks very derivative, but with Aron Warner (Shrek) onboard as producer, we should expect something heartfelt or funny from Wish Dragon. I guess it’s also worth noting that Jackie Chan is a producer for the movie, and he’ll be providing the voice of the Dragon for the Chinese dub.

Catch Wish Dragon when it debuts on Netflix on June 11.