Cobra Kai isn't the first attempt to try and revive the Karate Kid franchise, now known as the "Miyagiverse". Sony tried to reboot Karate Kid by casting Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith as the mentor and student, respectively, back in 2010. Unfortunately, while the film went on to make it big at the global box office - it's officially the highest-grossing film in the franchise after earning $359 million on a $40 million budget - it did not get a sequel.

Now, Ralph Macchio just explained why the main characters from the 2010 "reboot" aren't going to appear on Cobra Kai.

Other Karate Kid characters might appear in Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai has been one of the most surprising successes on perhaps any streaming platform ever since appearing on YouTube Red in 2018 and eventually moving to Netflix in 2019. The comedy-drama series is a spin-off to the Karate Kid films that were originally released back in the 1980s. It follows one of the main characters of the original 1984 film, Johnny, as he tries to reopen his old Cobra Kai dojo and becomes a mentor to local kids while also trying to become a better man.

With its fourth season coming up, audiences have been treated to more information about the show ahead of its premiere, including a smorgasbord of merchandise for fans to buy, just in time for the holidays.

In an interview with Jake's Takes, Ralph Macchio talked about how the 2010 film was "not in that [Cobra Kai] world." He explained how "anyone who knew Mr. Miyagi and interacted with Mr. Miyagi" is canon for Cobra Kai. True enough, several characters from the original films do appear in Cobra Kai. On top of Ralph Macchio, who plays Danny LaRusso, and Johnny Lawrence as William Zabka, the show has also brought back legacy characters like the rival's former love interest, Elisabeth Shue's Ali Mills, among several others.

With that said, Macchio's revelation wasn't all bad news. Macchio revealed that while Chan and Smith might not appear in Cobra Kai, Hilary Swank might. Although he did not explicitly confirm Swank's return, he did mention that because Hilary Swank's Julie Pierce knew Mr. Miyagi, Macchio added that "there's always a chance" for her to appear in the TV show.

It'll be interesting to see where the current showrunners will take Cobra Kai after its fourth season. The fifth season has already wrapped up filming, so there's a chance that audiences will get to see it on Netflix earlier than expected. At the same time, it's been confirmed that other shows that are part of the Miyagiverse are in discussion.