Recommended OrderRecommended
0 / 6 watchedThe main continuity: the original trilogy, then Cobra Kai, then the film that continues past it. The 2010 reboot is listed only because Legends picks up its characters.
- 1 The Karate Kid The only real prerequisite for Cobra Kai.
- 2 The Karate Kid Part II Okinawa. Chozen comes back in Cobra Kai season 3.
- 3 The Karate Kid Part III Terry Silver and Mike Barnes return in Cobra Kai seasons 4 and 5.
- 4 Cobra Kai Six seasons, 2018 to 2025. Seasons 1 and 2 were on YouTube, the rest on Netflix.
- 5 The Karate Kid Optional. It reintroduces Mr. Han, who returns in Legends.
- 6 Karate Kid: Legends Set three years after the Cobra Kai finale.
Release Order
0 / 7 watchedEvery film and the series as they arrived, with the two standalone entries marked.
- 1 The Karate Kid
- 2 The Karate Kid Part II
- 3 The Karate Kid Part III
- 4 The Next Karate Kid Standalone, with Hilary Swank as a new student of Mr. Miyagi.
- 5 The Karate Kid Standalone reboot until Legends linked it to the main series.
- 6 Cobra Kai The series finale arrived February 13, 2025.
- 7 Karate Kid: Legends Sixth film in the franchise, released May 30, 2025.
About Karate Kid
Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence started as rivals in The Karate Kid in 1984 and returned decades later in Cobra Kai, which began on YouTube in 2018 and ended on Netflix with its finale on February 13, 2025. Cobra Kai continues the first three films directly, so watching those is enough to follow every callback, and Parts II and III earn their keep once Chozen, Terry Silver and Mike Barnes start showing up in seasons 3 through 5.
Karate Kid: Legends, released May 30, 2025, is the only entry set after Cobra Kai, picking up three years past the finale and joining Jackie Chan's Mr. Han from the 2010 reboot to Macchio's Daniel. The Next Karate Kid, with Hilary Swank in 1994, is its own story that Cobra Kai only acknowledges in passing.
Good to know
The one thing people get wrong: the 2010 remake is not Cobra Kai homework. It stood as a separate continuity until Legends tied it back into the main series. The original trilogy is what Cobra Kai continues, and Netflix added those three films plus the 2010 remake to its US library on June 1, 2026, leaving The Next Karate Kid out. No new Karate Kid or Cobra Kai project has been greenlit as of September 2026, though the showrunners have said spin-off talks with Netflix are happening.
