The Real Reason Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce Didn’t Return For Cobra Kai

This article contains spoilers for “Cobra Kai” Season 6 Part 3.

The best legacy sequels use familiar faces to attract franchise devotees while also introducing fresh characters to pull in a whole new generation. For six wild seasons of television, “Cobra Kai” managed to do just that, giving both the younger and older members of the “Karate Kid” property equal time to shine. There were, admittedly, moments when the show seemed in danger of sinking under the weight of all its callbacks and returning players. But “Cobra Kai” managed to push its legacy sequel inclinations to such extremes that it circled back around to being oddly endearing — for the most part.

With each passing season, it also became apparent that pretty much any “Karate Kid” movie character, no matter how small, beloved or maligned, was fair game to return. Indeed, Thomas Ian Griffith’s Terry Silver went from the slimy, over-the-top villain from “The Karate Kid Part III” to the Big Bad on “Cobra Kai.” Similarly, Yugi Okumoto’s Chozen Toguchi nearly killed Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso in “The Karate Kid Part II,” only for “Cobra Kai” to transform him into one of Miyagi-Do’s greatest allies. Even Johnny Lawrence’s stereotypical bully entourage from the 1984 “Karate Kid” film managed to make an emotional impact.

The only times “Cobra Kai” really succumbed to the worst kind of legacy sequel trope was when it digitally (and unnecessarily) resurrected the late Pat Morita to briefly reprise his role as Mr. Miyagi via some skin-crawling AI. The series was so good about avoiding this pitfall for so long, but I suppose this showed that anyone truly could come back, no matter how improbable it might’ve seemed.

There was, however, a major exception to this rule: Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce from “The Next Karate Kid,” who never actually appeared on “Cobra Kai.” What happened?

In response to an inquiry made during a Q&A prompt on X (formerly Twitter) about Swank’s absence, “Cobra Kai” co-creator Jon Hurwitz revealed that an effort was made to reach out to the Oscar-winner. Unfortunately, although the show’s creatives got in contact with her representatives, they never heard back from Swank herself:

“It wasn’t for a lack of trying. We always loved the idea of Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce showing up in [the] final episodes [of ‘Cobra Kai’], but it wasn’t meant to be. We spoke with her reps several times, but never actually had the opportunity to speak directly with her. At the end of the day, she wasn’t interested in engaging at this time. We respect her wishes and remain huge fans. For what it’s worth, I’m a firm believer that these things happen or don’t happen for a reason. Perhaps one day she’ll return to the Miyagiverse.”

“The Next Karate Kid” is notable for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it marked Swank’s first theatrically released leading role. /Film’s BJ Colangelo even made a compelling case that “Next Karate Kid” is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest and that there’s more to Julie’s story than most give it credit for.

Julie, for those not familiar, is an angsty Boston-based teenager who acts out on account of the pain that came with losing her folks in a car accident in “The Next Karate Kid.” Additionally, she’s constantly harassed by a high school fraternity squad named Alpha Elite, which won’t seem to leave her alone. But while she naturally closes herself off from the people who love her, Mr. Miyagi sees an opportunity to channel Julie’s frustrations into something more emotionally balanced.

What’s interesting about “The Next Karate Kid” is that plays like a fairly natural continuation of the franchise thematically, especially given how “The Karate Kid Part III” sees Daniel falling down a similar path of disillusionment. With that in mind, it would’ve made sense for Julie to step onto the mats of “Cobra Kai,” at least from a storytelling perspective.

Swank hasn’t been quite as active in the industry in the past few years, with her most recent credits being the faith-based drama “Ordinary Angels” and a secrecy-shrouded guest stint on the ongoing third season of “Yellowjackets.” With that in mind, I think the question becomes less “Why didn’t she appear on ‘Cobra Kai’?” and more “Where would she have fit into the show’s final season?” Truth be told, I imagine it would have been pretty difficult.

Season 6 of “Cobra Kai” had a lot on its plate. Spread out across three installments, the final episodes dealt with the Sekai Taikai and the fallout from what ultimately happened at the global karate tournament’s original location in Barcelona. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are a lot of characters on this show, which caused some problems when it came time for “Cobra Kai” to wrap things up for good. Introducing a major “Karate Kid” veteran like Julie that late in the game — beyond a brief cameo, that is — would’ve merely added yet another plot thread to the already-stacked pile.

Even though “Cobra Kai” has come to an end, there’s still a chance Swank will return to the “Karate Kid” franchise one day. On top of any potential spinoff series that may or may not come to pass, the worlds of the 1984 and 2010 “Karate Kid” films are set to collide in the upcoming theatrical feature “Karate Kid: Legends.” With Daniel and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han on the verge of meeting for the first time, it might be the perfect opportunity for Swank’s Julie to finally pop up again.

Every season of “Cobra Kai” is currently streaming on Netflix.