Major Karate Kid Characters Who Never Appeared On Cobra Kai

Spoilers for "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 3 to follow.

After six incredible seasons with some genuinely wild plot threads sweeping the legs of audiences, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) has taken over the Cobra Kai dojo as Sekai Taikai champion, becoming a sensei with lessons of his own to learn. Along the way, he and his foe-turned-friend, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), encountered plenty of forgotten faces from the original "Karate Kid" trilogy. Staples like John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) have caused continuous issues for our heroes. At the same time, fan favorites like Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) still had stories to finish by the time the last punch was thrown. But even after all that, could the guest list for Miyagi-Do have been a little bigger? Could time have been made to bring some other essential players in the "Karate Kid" franchise back for a final round, and if not, then why?

If short-fused foot soldiers like Sean Kanan's Mike Barnes could make a comeback and throw a bit of spice into the "Cobra Kai" story, there's no reason that a handful of other characters couldn't have as well. Let's not forget that this nostalgic gamble, which gained immense popularity after it moved from YouTube to Netflix, had five films to pull from and only revisited three. With that in mind, here are a handful of key characters the show could have gotten a tap in on the fight but were instead left to stand on the sidelines.

He might have faded out of sight in the original movie, but when it counted, Freddy Fernandez (Israel Juarbe) was Daniel LaRusso's temporary tour guide when he first moved to Los Angeles from New Jersey. Freddy was the closest thing to a friend in our hero's new home until his life-changing beating from Cobra Kai's then-model student. At that point, Freddy's pals wasted no time ditching Danny to avoid the second-hand embarrassment. By the time Danny reached the All-Valley tournament, Freddy and his pals quickly changed their tune, cheering on the hero. Despite this, they were never seen again in the "Karate Kid" films after that.

In Season 1 of "Cobra Kai," Daniel and Johnny swing by South Seas Apartments for a trip down memory lane, but there's no mention of where Fernandez ended up after Danny was kicked out of the building in "The Karate Kid Part III." There's a chance Freddy had already moved before it was sold, but in Season 2, Freddy's name reappears again. LaRusso trains some of his students in a meat locker owned by Fernandez Meat Co., which was most likely a nod to the character, even though the company's owner never appeared. It's a shame, as it would've been nice to see Freddy appear in the show, cheering for his old pal like before or maybe even being the parent of one of the many students that passed in and out of the Valley dojos.

The fans begged for it, and the creators of "Cobra Kai" certainly heard them. Unfortunately, even after the hit Netflix show ended, there was no sign of Oscar-winner Hilary Swank's Julie Pierce, aka "The Next Karate Kid." Honestly, though, why would there be? Even though she and Daniel LaRusso had the same teacher, they never actually crossed paths, which explains why she never got involved in "Cobra Kai." It simply wasn't her fight, after all. But for the most part, "Cobra Kai" was about honoring legacies and respecting what came before, including the name of Mr. Miyagi. This reason would've provided Pierce the perfect opportunity to get involved if she wanted to, and was something that even Macchio believed would work.

Appearing on "Jake's Takes," Macchio explained, "Anyone who knew Mr. Miyagi and interacted with Mr. Miyagi is canon for our show, for the 'Cobra Kai' show," giving Pierce a free pass. Regardless of Macchio's thoughts, this sadly didn't happen, no matter how cool it would've been. But just because Pierce didn't make a comeback, it didn't mean supporting characters from her story couldn't have appeared, either. There still could've been space for another character from "The Next Karate Kid," who could've made the show's iconic bad guys even more of a threat.

In the '80s and '90s, you'd call Michael Ironside if your film required a concrete-chinned, grizzly-voiced foil to cause problems. This screen legend tried to ruin everyone's day, from Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Total Recall" to friendly killer whales in "Free Willy." For "The Next Karate Kid," Ironside filled the Kreese-shaped villain mold as Colonel Paul Dugan, the teacher of the Alpha Elite in the 1994 film. Just like his co-star in "The Next Karate Kid," Ironside never appeared with Swank in "Cobra Kai," but given the further exploration of the show's villains, there was perhaps even more reason for it to happen.

Leading up to and after the reintroduction of Terry Silver, audiences were treated to flashbacks of his time in the Vietnam War alongside his former brother-in-arms, John Kreese. These trips down memory lane could've provided an easy link between the LaRusso and Pierce eras of bad guys, given that Dugan was actually a colonel at that time and could have just as easily crossed paths with the two other villains whose worlds were rocked by Mr. Miyagi. While this never came to pass, it's a good thing it didn't, considering that these two longtime villains met their demise on a boat and were never heard of again. Who knows, though? If we ever get a reunion with Johnny Lawrence, Dugan could be the new big bad to bring trouble into the Valley and maybe even do a better job than Kreese or Silver ever did.

It's borderline hilarious how perhaps one of the most logical characters that should have dropped in on the "Cobra Kai" finale is actually one of the most illogical. Mr. Han was the Miyagi-type mentor in the 2010 reboot of "The Karate Kid," who taught his pupil kung fu (not karate) in China (not Japan), but franchise familiarity outweighed changing the film's name. Now, 15 years on, that culturally inaccurate remake is getting retconned as a franchise spin-off, with Han set to return and swap teaching methods with Daniel LaRusso in "Karate Kid: Legends."

As a result, it would have made sense for Han to drop by the LaRusso household in a Nick Fury-esque manner to tee up the new film, but that didn't come to pass. It may well have been due to the fact that none of the creators of "Cobra Kai" are contributing directly to "Legends," so Han didn't get the invite, which would have undoubtedly outshone the end of the six-season series. Nevertheless, couldn't even a brief appearance from Han be an extra treat for fans at the end of the show? Perhaps a silhouette knocking on Daniel's door or even appearing in his dojo like he does in the trailer for "Karate Kid: Legends" (which aims to connect the franchise's disparate parts like a fresh new bandana). All we can do now is wait for May 30, 2025, for the crossover we never knew we needed or could really understand.

It turns out that even though Will Smith is a producer on "Cobra Kai," there was no opportunity in the show at any point to include his son Jaden as Dre, his character from the 2010 version of "The Karate Kid." The titular youth, who learned the ways of kung fu in that film, has absolutely no knowledge of Mr. Miyagi or the legacy that continued after his passing, so trying to shoehorn him into "Cobra Kai" would've made no sense. But just because "Cobra Kai" might've forgotten about Dre, that doesn't mean his teacher has.

With "Karate Kid: Legends" just around the corner and Han turning to LaRusso to help a new martial arts prodigy (that's right, Jackie Chan is turning to Ralph Macchio for help with martial arts), there's a possibility that Dre could turn up in the movie. It would make sense for the former student to check in on his master, just as Daniel did with Miyagi for so many years up until his passing. It might sound forced, but let's not forget that this universe has just seen two old guys fight to the death on a boat before it was blown to bits. Stranger and far more ridiculous things could happen.

"Cobra Kai" is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.