Ralph Macchio and Yuji Okumoto are all smiles in a new behind-the-scenes photo from Netflix’s Cobra Kai.
Macchio shared the picture of himself alongside Okumoto in a post to Twitter. “Sometimes you just have to call in reinforcements!” the actor wrote. The photo appears to have been taken when the Cobra Kai crew was filming the Season 4 scene in which Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) enlists the aid of Chozen Toguchi (Okumoto) with the goal of striking back against Cobra Kai, thus teasing more adventures for the unlikely allies heading into Season 5.
Daniel, of course, is the original Karate Kid, with Macchio having played the role in 1984’s The Karate Kid, 1986’s The Karate Kid Part II and 1989’s The Karate Kid Part III before returning for Cobra Kai starting in 2018, appearing in all four seasons thus far. Meanwhile, Okumoto made his franchise debut as Chozen in the aforementioned Karate Kid II.
Karate Kid II depicts Daniel and Chozen as bitter rivals. In fact, in quite the escalation from Daniel’s tournament-sanctioned karate match against Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in the original 1984 film, the 1986 sequel sees Chozen challenge Daniel to a fight to the death. Despite being taken to his limit, Daniel gets the upper hand in the film’s climax. However, taking a page from his mentor, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), Daniel ultimately decides to spare Chozen’s life.
Okumoto first reprised his role as Chozen in Cobra Kai Season 3, which premiered on Netflix on Jan. 1, 2021. In Season 3, Daniel and Chozen make amends and put the mistakes of the past behind them, with Chozen revealing another, more offensive side of Miyagi-Do Karate to Daniel. Chozen later reappeared in the Season 4 finale of Cobra Kai, which arrived alongside the rest of the season’s episodes on Dec. 31, 2021. In the finale, Daniel and Chozen visit Mr. Miyagi’s grave, with Chozen agreeing to help Daniel in his war against the villainous Cobra Kai dojo.
Cobra Kai Season 4 revolves around Daniel and Johnny — unlikely allies in their own right — uniting their respective dojos, Miyag-Do Karate and Eagle Fang Karate, in order to take the fight to Cobra Kai and its leader, John Kreese (Martin Kove), who previously ousted Johnny from power. In an effort to even the odds, Kreese enlists his old friend and main Karate Kid III antagonist Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). By the end of the season, however, Kreese found himself being ousted, with Silver assuming total control of the dojo.
Cobra Kai Season 4 is streaming on Netflix now. Season 5 does not currently have a release date.
Source: Twitter
About The Author
