Is Hilary Swank Returning For Cobra Kai

Does Hilary Swank Return to Her Karate Kid Role in Cobra Kai?

Now that the series is over, the answer can be officially revealed as an unfortunate no. This became most obvious when Netflix dropped the first part of Season 6, ten episodes in total, and Swank was nowhere to be seen. While the ten episodes revealed that Mr. Miyagi kept secretes from Daniel Larusso, including being a Sekai Taikai competitor, there wasn’t a single hint of a reason for Julie Pierce (Swank) to show up in the show. The second third of the season made it even less likely as Daniel Larusso’s quest to uncover Mr. Miyagi’s secrets seemed mostly wrapped up. And it was officially a no-go for Swank when they dropped the final part of the third season, and Swank was nowhere to be found. It’s sad because ever since Cobra Kai began as a YouTube Red series, fans have been clamoring for Swank to return to her role from the film The Next Karate Kid. In that film, she played Julie Pierce, a new protege of Mr. Miyagi. As the seasons went on and more and more stars from the original three films began returning to the franchise, including villains Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and John Kreese (Martin Kove) and even deeper cuts like Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto), it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Swank would return as well, but alas she did not. The series never really hinted at The Next Karate Kid being canon at all. Throughout its run, no one mentioned Jule Pierce aside from one possible indirect mention, and it’s easy to ignore her character as the film took place in Boston, not LA, and can be seen as a kind of side adventure for Mr. Miyagi. Julie doesn’t even fight in karate tournaments during the film, solely using karate to defend herself. It is very easy for her to simply not be in the story, which is exactly what happened.

Why Didn’t Hilary Swank Return for Cobra Kai?

This begs the question of why Swank didn’t return to the role of Julie Pierce at any point during Cobra Kai‘s run. The actress has moved on to bigger and better things in her career, winning two Oscars. While she hasn’t been a headliner in films recently, that would still make her the biggest name on the show by a longshot, making many wonder if she had any interest in returning to a character she hasn’t played since 1994. Thankfully, the actress got asked about her return to the series a lot, so we know her opinion on it. Speaking on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2022 while Cobra Kai was in its prime, the actress admitted that she might reprise the role if anyone asked. “I’m not in Cobra Kai, no one’s asked me to be in Cobra Kai,” Swank told the hosts. “A lot of people ask if I’m going to be on it, it’s like, the No. 1 question I get.” She even followed it up when pressed on whether she’d be willing to return, saying, “No one’s called me!” The series showrunners kept coy on the subject as well. In an interview with Deadline, the show’s showrunners – Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg – would not deny Swank’s return to the franchise, nor would they confirm it. Instead, Hurwitz simply said that they’re fans of Swank, with Schlossberg adding, “Anyone from the Miyagi-verse could potentially be in the final season.” Ralph Macchio did this as well, even going as far as to heavily hint she may come back when the first half of Season 6 dropped. However, now that the series is over it appears that Swank’s lack of return wasn’t from lack of trying. While the showrunners don’t seem to have ever planned for her character to play a major role in the show, keeping things squarely focused on Daniel and Johnny’s characters, they did evidently try to get Swank to return for the show’s final episodes. According to Hurwitz, it just didn’t work out as the actress wasn’t interested at the time. “It wasn’t for lack of trying,” he said. “We always loved the idea of Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce showing up in Cobra Kai’s final episodes, 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.” That entrance in the Miyagiverse could still be soon, as there’s one more long-shot chance for her to come back in the upcoming Karate Kid film that features Macchio and Jackie Chan reprising their roles and may or may not be connected to Cobra Kai. That, however, is a very tough sell, as the movie focuses on the Chan-starring Karate Kid film and doesn’t involve the Cobra Kai showrunners in any way. There’s also the possibility of a Cobra Kai spin-off series coming to fruition that could eventually pull Swank in. And that’s whether Hilary Swank returned for Cobra Kai. The above article was updated on 2/25/2025 by the original author to include information about Cobra Kai Season 6.