Perhaps one of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai's most far-out similarities is their obsession with the web-slinging superhero, Spider-Man, and the infatuation may coordinate more than just the franchise. The Karate Kid (1984) was such an undisputed sensation that its success produced three sequels and immense box office achievement for Columbia Pictures. In the late '80s, Sony Pictures would acquire The Karate Kid franchise through Columbia and lend a hand in expanding The Karate Kid universe out to include the television series and sequel spinoff, Cobra Kai.
Cobra Kai had been a welcomed addition to the original set of Karate Kid movies, as it picked up the narratives of original characters Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and more, nearly thirty years after the first on-screen All-Valley Karate Tournament. Cobra Kai has seamlessly merged into The Karate Kid universe, featuring original movie cameos, long-standing rivalries and storylines, and even proceeded to include small Easter eggs and continued motifs, like the obsession with Spider-Man.
The Spider-Man References Began In The Karate Kid And Continued
There are a few Spider-Man references throughout the original Karate Kid movies - in the first film, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) where the guy with Spider-Man-like capabilities ran off to after saving him from a band of Cobra Kai. Of course, the hero is revealed to Daniel as Mr. Miyagi, but LaRusso would again refer to Spider-Man in The Karate Kid Part III when rappelling down to retrieve Mr. Miyagi's peculiarly growing bonsai tree from a cliff. It's possible that Daniel mentions Spider-Man numerous times because of prominent '80s superhero fads, but LaRusso could've also strongly identified specifically with Peter Parker's underdog narrative, reminiscent of Daniel's past and future battles.
Whatever the case may be for the original movies, the Spider-Man reference emerged again, and several times, throughout the Cobra Kai series. In season 1, episode 3, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) dresses as a knockoff Spider-Man/Deadpool hybrid for the school dance, until Johnny replaces it with the iconic skeleton costume; and in the very next episode, Miguel is asked by his mother (Vanessa Rubio) if he'd like to go see a Spider-Man movie. The Spider-Man continuity suggests Miguel favors the hero just as Daniel did, but it also hints at Cobra Kai's tendency to pay homage to The Karate Kid's legacy in subtle ways.
The Karate Kid & Spider-Man Relationship Mirrors Real Life
Funnily enough, the Spider-Man motif does more than sharpen the continuity within The Karate Kid franchise. Sony acquired the franchise in the '80s, well before they would go on to buy the rights to Spider-Man nearly a decade later in the very late '90s. While Daniel was name-dropping the web-slinging hero in The Karate Kid (1984), Sony was inadvertently self-promoting the future of their rights to the Spider-Man universe.
Now that it appears Sony Pictures owns it all, it makes sense that one of the ways Cobra Kai honors The Karate Kid legacy would be to echo the Spider-Man motif. In fact, as Sony seeks to expand Karate Kid's legacy to include yet another feature film to the franchise, it may continue to inter-advertise the media within its catalog. The Spider-Man references are fun and add another dimension to The Karate Kid, and audiences undoubtedly wouldn't mind a few more hidden Easter eggs to uncover.
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