James Pax, who played Lightning in John Carpenter's 1986 cult classic Big Trouble in Little China alongside Kurt Russell, has said he wants to spearhead a revival of the film in the mould of Cobra Kai, the hit sequel series that revived The Karate Kid decades after the original. Speaking at a 40th-anniversary panel at Big Lick Comic Con, Pax noted that while 20th Century Fox retains the rights but has done nothing with them for four decades, Cobra Kai proved there's an appetite for reviving 1980s martial arts properties for modern audiences.

Pax said he now works as a director and screenwriter and envisages pitching the idea directly to Russell, proposing he write and direct a project spanning four or five seasons that would keep Russell as the star while introducing younger cast members, blending sequel storylines with prequel episodes. Cobra Kai, the project he cites as inspiration, ran for six seasons and 65 episodes, debuting on YouTube Red in 2018 before moving to Netflix and reuniting original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka as ageing karate rivals.