‘Cobra Kai’ Star Martin Kove Almost Played John Kreese in ‘Next Karate Kid’ — Why He Didn’t
Cobra Kai mentions events from the first three Karate Kid movies a lot. The Next Karate Kid is one that doesn’t get referenced as much. Released in 1994, it has Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi, but not Ralph Macchio as Daniel. Robert Mark Kamen didn’t write it and John G. Avildsen didn’t direct it. John Kreese (Martin Kove) almost returned for the fourth time in a row, but Kove explains why there’s no Cobra Kai in The Next Karate Kid.
Kove spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet by phone on Aug. 26. After discussing Cobra Kai Season 4, Kove reflected on the Karate Kid movies a bit. He said he met the producers of The Next Karate Kid but they ultimately decided not to include Kreese in the story. Cobra Kai Season 5 is now on Netflix.
Before ‘Cobra Kai’, Martin Kove almost brought John Kreese to ‘Next Karate Kid’
In The Next Karate Kid, Miyagi takes in troubled teenager Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank). Miyagi learns that teaching girls is a little different than teaching boys. Julie still has problems with bullies though, and the adult leader of the bullies could have been Kreese again.
“I met on that and I would’ve met on that because Chris Cain who was directing it, [producer] Jerry Weintraub, we all chatted,” Kove said. “Chris came, directed Young Riders. He was really good. We used to go horseback riding up in Colorado.”
‘The Next Karate Kid’ couldn’t explain a Cobra Kai presence
The Next Karate Kid does not take place in the San Fernando Valley. Miyagi and Julie are living in Massachusetts. So, they decided John Kreese wouldn’t travel all that way.
“It didn’t suit that my character would show up in Boston,” Kove said. “It didn’t work that my character would just show up, it was too convenient and I agreed with that. So I didn’t. They had another sensei but the bottom line was, it was one of those movies that I think you go to a fourth sequel, it’s rough.”
Michael Ironside played Dugan, the teacher of the new bullies. If you can’t have John Kreese, Ironside is not a bad choice for a villain.
‘The Next Karate Kid’ was the end of the franchise for decades
Mr. Miyagi teaching a girl karate was a great idea to revitalize The Karate Kid, but the film didn’t connect with audiences like the Daniel LaRusso trilogy. Kove agreed.
“It’s hard and I thought that that script, the fourth one, was tough,” Kove said. “None of us really talk about it. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It’s just making a fourth installment of a very successful franchise, you’ve got to be brave.”
After 1994, the world wouldn’t see The Karate Kid again until the 2010 remake with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan as different characters. Cobra Kai began in 2018 and Kove remains impressed that it has given him and his co-stars good story for five seasons and counting.
The only reason Cobra Kai is so successful is because of the writing. It really is. I don’t think it’s the chemistry or any of that. Sure, we all work together when you watch Billy [Zabka] and I act. You’re reading 35 years, 45 years of volumes of history and it’s exciting to watch us go back and forth because I do think of him as my son despite everything he’s done to me and everything I’ve done to him. But, honestly, it’s the written word. It’s hard to write a fourth sequel. It’s really hard and it’s an exception, what they’re doing. It’s a phenomenon because you take a TV show to the fourth or fifth season, you’ve already probably replaced the writers. You’ve replaced the showrunners because they move on to something else. Writers usually move on to movies after three years of success. These writers haven’t. They’re great. They’re on to Obliterated, another show they’re doing for Netflix.
Martin Kove, Interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 8/23/22
