Netflix's 10/10 Legacy Sequel Shows The Force Awakens How It's Done

Published Jul 29, 2026, 9:15 AM EDT Ben is a Senior Writer on the New TV team at Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class B.A. Degree in English Literature and History. Born and raised in Ireland, Ben has always had a love for storytelling in all forms of media and operates multiple projects under the name Benjamin Blogs. Ben is a comic book writer and podcast host, in addition to his work as an entertainment journalist. He has worked as both a writer and editor for Screen Rant, Collider, and other media outlets across various departments, including features, news, reviews, and interviews. It's no secret that Star Wars' sequel trilogy seemed to mark the beginning of the end for the beloved franchise, but Netflix managed to navigate a similar legacy sequel with remarkable success. In the era of sequels, prequels, massive IP expansion, and reboots, Hollywood has spent a lot of time bringing back stories with established fan bases in various ways. This is the environment that saw Star Wars revived with the promise of a thrilling new trilogy, all kicking off with Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens in 2015, but despite a hopeful new beginning, the franchise quickly fell off with numerous changes in creative direction and massive gaps in the narrative that felt unearned and nonsensical. Add to that the fact that the franchise began to branch out with spin-off movies and TV series, and things quickly got out of control to the point that the fanbase became vastly more divided and critical of the once beloved space opera universe. Meanwhile, despite similar circumstances, Cobra Kai managed to reboot the Karate Kid franchise with incredible success. Cobra Kai Perfected The Legacy Sequel Format The Karate Kid came out back in 1984, and the movie spawned an incredibly popular franchise that had real-world implications of popularizing martial arts for a Western audience and launching the career of young Ralph Macchio, who starred in the film in a similar trajectory to Star Wars' Mark Hamill. Following the original film, two more entries that also starred Macchio were released in the subsequent five years, and then things started to shift with a spin-off that failed to capture the same level of engagement and excitement when The Next Karate Kid came out in 1994. Then, almost three decades later, there was an attempt to reboot the franchise with a new film starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, which was met with mixed reviews. While the attempts to change course and eventually reboot the series failed to take off, 2018's Cobra Kai managed to do something every other project failed to, and bring the world of these stories back, inviting nostalgia thanks to the return of Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, while also moving the narrative forward and introducing a whole new cast. This turned out to be the perfect formula for building a legacy sequel, which ultimately led to the series having enough renewed excitement to get another movie, and keep fans hungry for another spin-off to see where the rest of the cast and characters from Cobra Kai wind up. Star Wars Has Struggled To Reignite Excitement In The Fanbase Since The Force Awakens Unfortunately, despite how beloved the Star Wars franchise has been throughout its history, they are currently in one of the most unstable places in its history. While early seasons of The Mandalorian were praised, and Andor seems to have attracted broad adoration, other spin-offs and films have struggled. Starting with the sequel trilogy, Star Wars has been scrambling to find a new direction. And it seems telling that the biggest success stories to come out of the present era of the Star Wars universe are projects like Andor, which employ a similar tactic to Cobra Kai, breaking the tradition of the original stories, focusing on a new cast of characters, and creating a distinct identity. If Star Wars keeps on pushing the boundaries and exploring unique new stories and characters, while still keeping a surface-level connection to everything that came before, it can be the best of both worlds, appeasing the pre-existing fanbase who want new stories, and newcomers who are looking for a story that doesn't require extensive homework to understand. In this way, Star Wars could learn a lot from how Cobra Kai handled their approach to making a legacy sequel. Hopefully the future of this universe will be brighter than what's come before, but it won't be an easy path forward. Release Date 2018 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix, YouTube Premium Showrunner Jon Hurwitz Cast Ralph Macchio Daniel LaRusso Directors Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz, Joel Novoa, Jennifer Celotta, Steven K. Tsuchida, Sherwin Shilati, Marielle Woods, Steve Pink, Lin Oeding, Michael Grossman Writers Josh Heald, Ashley Darnall, Chris Rafferty, Bill Posley Creator(s) Hayden Schlossberg, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz