Cobra Kai and Karate Kid’s famed William Zabka once made a surprise cameo on How I Met Your Mother, which gave the actor a second wind for his role as Johnny Lawrence. We knew him as Daniel LaRusso’s blonde-haired, black-gi wearing nemesis from The Karate Kid movie, but in HIMYM, Zabka returned with a meta-comedy twist.
He appeared as himself on the sitcom, and after a single gag, he had a small recurring arc. From being a clown at Barney’s bachelor party to nearly becoming his best man, Zabka brought some unexpected heart to How I Met Your Mother. And let’s not forget the running joke where people kept absolutely hating and booing him for being the villain in The Karate Kid.
Still, Johnny Lawrence was reframed as a misunderstood hero, and the comedy show unknowingly laid the foundation of Zabka’s biggest career move yet: Cobra Kai.
Cobra Kai’s Creator Reveals How I Met Your Mother’s Influence on the Netflix Show
Before Cobra Kai, How I Met Your Mother had already begun changing Johnny Lawrence’s image because Barney flipped the script and claimed that Daniel LaRusso was actually the bully. Though not entirely true, it made the audience rethink the classic story.
William Zabka and Ralph Macchio were both in on the joke and showed up as fictionalized versions of themselves in HIMYM to poke fun at their legacy. Co-creator Josh Heald revealed how the sitcom’s revival snowballed and gave them the confidence to pitch Cobra Kai in an interview with CBR.
All that stuff just kind of buoyed us a little bit when we were conceiving the show and comparing the storylines to pitch the show because it made us feel confident that we weren’t the only ones, and we didn’t think we were, but it was nice to see other creators have Karate Kid on the mind.
So, while How I Met Your Mother wasn’t a direct influence, it helped keep Karate Kid alive in the public consciousness. The Neil Patrick Harris-starrer show also made it clear that the audience wanted more of Johnny and Daniel, and advanced the idea of a dedicated series that revisited the storyline.
Did How I Met Your Mother Bring More Nuance to William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence?
In The Bro Mitzvah episode of How I Met Your Mother, Barney’s bachelor party request included ‘Karate Kid Appearance.’ So Ted and Marshall get Ralph Macchio, who’s famous for playing Daniel LaRusso, to check off one box from Barney’s wild list.
But when he sees Macchio, Barney immediately makes it clear that he hated the actor for the role, and insisted that William Zabka was the true Karate Kid. Neil Patrick Harris’ Barney bursts into a rant and says:
I hate Ralph Macchio! I hate him, hate him, hate him! He is not the Karate Kid! The Karate Kid was William Zabka, star pupil of the Cobra Kai dojo, whom this monster defeated with a cheap, illegal head kick, in the most hauntingly tragic film ending of all time.
Later in the episode, we learn that sabotaging his list was the plan all along, and they’d actually had something better for Barney in store. He complains about how his friends got everything right except getting the actual Karate Kid, and that’s when the clown, who’s simply hanging around, wipes off his make-up, takes off his costume, and reveals himself to be William Zabka in a black gi!
In HIMYM, Johnny wasn’t the bully anymore, and it added to the domino effect of seeing Zabka’s character as a misunderstood antagonist. The sitcom, in a way, planted the seed for Johnny’s complex arc of a flawed man searching for redemption.
Cobra Kai Turned William Zabka and Daniel LaRusso Into More Than One-Note Characters
In Cobra Kai, Johnny Lawrence was no longer a one-dimensional bad guy. The show refrained from introducing black and white characters, and everyone (especially the adults) operated in gray areas. Even Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso was shown to have his flaws.
You could now see that he’s short-tempered, too prideful, and struggling in his own ways. Zabka’s Johnny was a washed-up handyman who couldn’t get over his past, and it was not just the defeat that haunted him, but also the way his sensei treated him later.
Here’s an overview of the series
Zabka and Macchio were fully on board and embraced this reinvention wholeheartedly. They agreed to bring more depth to their characters, which would have otherwise remained just one-note relics. In all its seasons, we saw how all the personas we once categorized as good and evil were all equally layered, even John Kreese.
Why Neil Patrick Harris’ Cameo Was a Missed Opportunity in Cobra Kai
Neil Patrick Harris, who started the whole “Johnny Lawrence is the real Karate Kid” thing on How I Met Your Mother, never appeared in Cobra Kai, and it truly feels like a missed opportunity. One reason for his absence is that he could have possibly disrupted the narrative, as Ralph Macchio and William Zabka did not appear on the sitcom as characters, but exaggerated versions of themselves.
Still, it was completely possible to bring Harris as a fictional character, without breaking the show’s immersion. He could have played a goofy sensei in the Sekai Taikai tournament for one of the dojos, a comedic sports commentator, or even a referee during the matches.
It would’ve been a hilarious Easter Egg and meta-reference for fans who knew about Barney’s obsession. While the creators’ exclusion of him makes sense, Harris’ cameo could have been a nostalgic moment that fit perfectly in Cobra Kai.
How Cobra Kai Showcased William Zabka’s Talent and True Acting Potential
At the end of The Karate Kid, you see William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence hand the trophy to Daniel in the finale, saying, “You’re alright, LaRusso.” In that moment, Johnny showed sportsmanship in his own way, but John Kreese was in his head earlier, promoting cheating, even abandoning, and attacking his student for not winning the trophy.
In Cobra Kai, Zabka carried this exact nuance while playing Johnny: a boy who had the heart to acknowledge his opponent’s victory, but was corrupted by a sensei into cheating, and tossed away after losing. Johnny had that care-free and hot-headed exterior, but in moments of vulnerability, you could see what was truly bothering him.
Zabka, who we hadn’t seen much of, apart from the one Karate Kid movie, gave an absolute masterclass in acting. You laughed at him, with him, cried at his pain, and cheered during his wins. His final confrontation with John Kreese, where the two hug each other and cry, is so beautifully acted that you can’t help but let the waterworks out.
If it wasn’t before, it’s now quite evident that Zabka is a brilliant actor who can play more than just a bully stereotype from the ‘80s. He’ll probably be summoned for more Karate Kid and Cobra Kai spin-offs, but hopefully, people will also take notice of his acting talent and cast him in other roles, beyond this franchise, cause he’s absolutely earned it!
From a sitcom cameo to leading the story’s revival as Johnny, Zabka solidified himself as an actor and proved his staying power. So, what did you think about him before the saga’s reboot? Was he ever the actual Karate Kid to you, or simply the guy who troubled Daniel?
You can watch How I Met Your Mother and Cobra Kai on Netflix (USA).
