Nyligen avslöjades det att en TV-serie som utspelar sig 30 år efter Karate Kid är på ingång. Ralph Macchio och William Zabka kommer dessutom att återvända i rollerna som Daniel Larusso och Johnny Lawrence. Tillsammans har skådespelarna nu berättat lite om TV-serien som mycket väl kan bli något alldeles extra.
Macchio:
"What made me say yes after all these years — and I've been very protective of the franchise and where Daniel LaRusso sits in the world 30 years later — these guys, Josh, Hayden and Jon had such a smart and fresh angle in. It was relevant today yet had all the pop culture — they had the perfect marriage and angle in bringing it from the Johnny Lawrence [point of view]. It's not unlike how Creed was a film that was about Apollo Creed's son but you had Rocky Balboa in it in a certain way. [Cobra Kai] is not the first time anyone looks at a fresh angle from the villain's point of view, but it was just smart to go that way and to cover these dual lives and do a rivalry series in a smart and funny way, and on top of that infuse the high school world — which is a big part of the show as well — for the new generation."
Han fortsatte sedan och berättade lite mer om seriens handling:
"Johnny befriends one [of Daniel's kids], and that is how it connects that world into our own rivalry world. There's a tremendous amount of heart and kick-ass action sequences and martial arts, but the inherent humor comes from the fact that these are two guys who are in their 50s and still have an ax to grind. It goes back to those places where you just can't let go and you're still a teenager at heart and yet balancing your adult life — it's like the rise of the Cobra Kai. It's the worst nightmare for someone like Daniel LaRusso."
Mr. Miyagi kommer inte vara bortglömd vilket Macchio gav lite mer detaljer om:
"In the early stages of us pitching to the networks, it was really important to me to have that element and that void that's in Daniel's life right now. He used to train his oldest daughter when she was a kid, but now she's at the age where it's not as cool to hang out with dad. So there's a real void in his life when he doesn't have that. Mr. Miyagi is the human Yoda to young Luke Skywalker. So as an adult and a parent — my kids are in their 20s now — I would love to have had Mr. Miyagi's wisdom many times in raising my own kids. There's a piece of that void in his life that is going to resonate on the dramatic side of the show and where martial arts, [which] was such a piece of his adolescence and young adulthood, is now brought back by the nemesis raising the banner on the Cobra Kai. And now Daniel can't sit and let that happen."
Zabka fortsatte sedan och berättade lite om karaktärerna och rivaliteten som fortfarande finns mellan dem:
"They've gone on with their lives, but that rivalry is always still there. It's like a football game you lost in high school but the whole world saw it. It's always there: 'If only I just did this...'
Through this show, you get to see who he was and where he came from. I never saw Johnny as a bad guy; I always saw him as the antagonist but at his core, he had a good heart. At the beginning of the first movie, he said he had one year to make it all work and that's what he wanted to do. He was an ex-degenerate. Then LaRusso comes in town and turns his world upside down. At the very end, he hands him a trophy and says, 'You're all right, LaRusso.' He has a good heart and they tap into that in the show. You're going to empathize with him. He's still tough and rough around the edges, but it's a really smart and fun take on it and I think it'll be really entertaining."
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