‘Cobra Kai’ bringing back THAT character with AI was awful

Cobra Kai, the fabulously OTT karate drama sequel to The Karate Kid films, premiered part two of its final season on November 15. One of the main plot points was Daniel’s (Ralph Macchio) quest to uncover the truth about his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi, played by Pat Morita, was a main character in the original Karate Kid movie and sadly passed away in 2005.

Spoilers ahead for Cobra Kai season 6, part 2.

In the new episodes, Daniel discovers that his beloved surrogate father once killed a man in the Sekai Taikai tournament, which his dojo, Miyagi-Do, is competing in. This sends him spiraling, and in episode 10, “Eunjangdo,” he dreams of fighting a young Miyagi. This version of Miyagi is initially played by actor Brian Takahashi, but as Daniel’s dream grows more intense, something happens. First, Young Miyagi speaks with the voice of Pat Morita, and then he turns into him, a figure glowering down at Daniel before punching him. Yep, Morita has become the latest in a long line of actors to be “resurrected” by AI.

Personally, I hate this development. It took me right out of the show because suddenly all I could think about were the implications, or lack thereof, of the “resurrection.” Yes, it was technically very impressive, but what did it actually achieve? We know Daniel is thinking about Miyagi. We don’t need him there “in the flesh.” A lot of the show is built around the hole the death of Miyagi left in Daniel’s life, and seeing him, even in a dream sequence, takes away from that all-important absence.

The creators of Cobra Kai did at least ask permission from Morita’s family before moving forward. Jon Hurwitz, the show’s co-creator, stated to Deadline:

“If we were going to do this, we had to do it the right way by getting involved with [Morita’s] estate and making sure they were comfortable with it. We also contacted one of Pat’s daughters with whom we have a relationship. Ralph spoke with her about the scene to ensure everyone was on board and felt good about what we were doing. We did our best to work with a great company that was going to deliver and there were lots and lots of rounds of notes, from voice AI to the deepfake. We were pleased with the result.”

So there’s that. But the fact remains that there’s just something vaguely ghoulish about bringing back a dead actor, no matter the intentions. Some contemporary actors have even stated that they don’t want anyone recreating them after they pass away, no matter what. Robert Downey Jr. has said that although he’s not worried about the Marvel Cinematic Universe “hijacking my character’s soul,” his estate will sue anyone who attempts to build an AI of him. More recently, iconic British broadcaster David Attenborough said he was “profoundly disturbed” by AI clones of his voice.

Maybe Pat Morita would have liked an AI of him to live on in Cobra Kai, or maybe he wouldn’t. Obviously, I can’t say. But I find the concept disturbing and I can’t shake that feeling, not even when I find the show otherwise very entertaining. Why couldn’t they simply have used archive footage instead, or stuck with Brian Takahashi’s performance? It would have made the same point and I wouldn’t have spent the rest of the episode wondering if the showrunners had used AI ethically … or if it can ever be used ethically.