Like you, Ralph Macchio also hates the worst Karate Kid movie, but admits it played a crucial role in Cobra Kai

The Karate Kid Part 3 still remains a point of contention for the masses. The original Karate child is a beloved classic, and its sequel, The Karate Kid Part 2managed to capture much of its charm. The same cannot be said for the third part, which felt like the black sheep of the trilogy.

Ralph Macchio, the actor behind the lead character Daniel LaRusso, adds to this sentiment among fans. But despite not being a fan of the film, he acknowledged that it played an important role in shaping the storyline of the hit series. Cobra Kai.

Ralph Macchio revealed how The Karate Kid, Part 3 helped in the storyline of Cobra Kai

The story of The karate child revolves around Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a bullied teenager who, with the guidance of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), transforms into a skilled martial artist. He eventually defeats his rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in a cinematic confrontation that follows. This familiar storyline spawned a number of sequels.

But Ralph Macchio, who played the character in the original trilogy (The karate child And The Karate Kid Part 2), wasn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the third installment. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he added:

I wasn’t a fan of how Karate Kid 3 turned out. I felt like the story was just repetitive and there were no characters forwarded before LaRusso’s end. And production-wise, it was written one way and then changed another.

He further indicated that he had a rather turbulent experience with the third film, as it failed to live up to the depth and complexity of the original and its sequel. Furthermore, “it wasn’t a smooth ride,” because certain aspects of the character didn’t really resonate with him. But despite his reservations, he admitted how wonderful Cobra Kai expands the stories described in the film.

The show does a great job of developing characters that have lacked depth in the past. Additionally, this creative method would allow the creators to naturally explore backstories to increase the value of characters.

Not only the overall storyline, but the actor also talked about how much he loved what the series did with the antagonist, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), from the third installment.

The Story of Terry Silver in Cobra Kai

The Cobra Kai creators transformed the antagonist’s plot into something incredibly engaging, even though Terry Silver lacked nuance and subtlety in the third installment. Because of how skillfully his plot was written, even the audience thought for a moment that Silver had truly changed for the better. But as the series progressed, this story quickly collapsed.

Ralph Macchio also stated:

Cobra Kai has a larger-than-life element to it. If you take it apart, it’s kind of ridiculous — but that’s what makes it so much fun! So you take a character like Terry Silver for this show with those larger-than-life elements and his relationship with Daniel, and then you add those layers of complexity to his evilness.

Thomas Ian Griffith saw the show’s premiere in 2018 and was blown away, but he wasn’t sure how his character would fit into the modern series. Plus, that show would focus primarily on Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, so he’s unlikely to get the call anytime soon.

However, he also had a lot of questions running through his head (via Entertainment Weekly ). He continued:

How are they going to bring this larger-than-life character into this world? And how would he fit in? And what has he been doing for the past 30 years?

But after speaking with Cobra Kai producers and creators Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg over Zoom for an hour, Griffin was convinced it was time to revive Terry Silver’s nightmare. Cobra Kai season 4.

You can rent The karate child original trilogy films on Apple TV and watch Cobra Kai on Netflix.