How Old Are Daniel & Johnny In Karate Kid 4

Here’s how old Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) were during the events of The Karate Kid 4. The fourth movie in The Karate Kid saga, 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, didn’t star Ralph Macchio, and, instead, introduced Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank), a new pupil for Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita). However, The Next Karate Kid is canonically part of the universe which is currently being continued by Cobra Kai on Netflix.

Daniel LaRusso’s Karate Kid trilogy was set in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, with The Karate Kid Part II beginning in LA and then shifting to its main location of Okinawa. However, The Next Karate Kid took place in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Miyagi traveled across the country to receive a Presidential honor for his World War II valor and met Julie, the granddaughter of his late Army buddy, Lt. Jack Pierce, who was Miyagi’s first known karate student. Recognizing both Julie’s anger and grief at being orphaned, as well as the fact that Miyagi-Do karate teachings were passed down to her, Miyagi decided to train Julie so she could cope with the challenges in her life. This includes the film’s bad guys and stand-ins for the Cobra Kai dojo, the Alpha Elite, who were tormenting Julie.

Julie is 17 in The Next Karate Kid and she attends senior prom with her boyfriend, Eric McGowen (Chris Conrad). Since Karate Kid 4 is set ten years after the original film, which introduced both Daniel and Johnny, their ages are easy to deduce: Daniel-san is 27 and Johnny Lawrence is 26 during The Next Karate Kid. This is because Daniel, who was born on December 18, 1966 (LaRusso turned 18 right before the All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament in The Karate Kid) and he is older than Johnny, who was born on August 20, 1967. Further, The Next Karate Kid took place in the spring of 1994, 6-7 months before Daniel’s 28th birthday, and 3 months before Johnny turned 27.

From what Cobra Kai has revealed of Daniel’s life in the interim years between his movie trilogy and the start of Cobra Kai in 2018, at this point, Daniel was likely already in the car dealership business. After college, Daniel started working for a used car salesman and proved himself to be both better at selling cars and a superior businessman. By 2002, he met his now-wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) and they had their daughter Samantha (Mary Mouser). But, in 1994, Daniel was no longer living with Mr. Miyagi, which is why the sensei invited Julie’s grandmother to stay at his home while he took responsibility for Julie-san.

Johnny’s exact whereabouts in 1994 haven’t been nailed down, but it’s known that he enlisted in the United States Air Force after high school and then he spent some time living in Colorado after he was discharged. Lawrence also became an alcoholic. After he moved back to LA, Johnny met Shannon Keene (Doira Baird), who became pregnant and gave birth to their son Robby (Tanner Buchanan) on February 4, 2002. Sadly, Johnny’s mother died right before Robby was born. Cobra Kai then picked up Johnny’s story in the summer of 2018.

As for Mr. Miyagi, he was 69 when he met Julie Pierce and became her sensei. Miyagi was born in 1925 and he left Okinawa in 1940 to emigrate to the United States. In 1943, Miyagi enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in World War II and he served under Lt. Jack Pierce as part of the highly-decorated 442nd Infantry Regiment when he was 18. Miyagi was 59 when he met Daniel LaRusso and, ten years later, Julie Pierce also became her student. While it hasn’t been canonically shown in Cobra Kai, it’s possible Daniel and Julie finally met at Mr. Miyagi’s funeral after their sensei died on November 15, 2011.

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