Cobra Kai fans are used to waiting. There were 34 years between the first film and the premiere of the Cobra Kai series, and well over a year-and-a-half between Seasons Two and Three, as the series moved from YouTube Red to Netflix. Fans of the series will not have to wait as long, however, for Season Four, as filming has just completed on the season, according to two of its stars, William Zabka and Martin Kove.
After 3 1/2 months of production, I’m proud to say #CobraKaiSeason4 is officially wrapped! “Ready???! LET’S BEGIN!”#sentfrommysmartphone pic.twitter.com/1aX3Hj247O
— William Zabka (@WilliamZabka) May 1, 2021
“After 3 1/2 months of production, I’m proud to say #CobraKaiSeason4 is officially wrapped!,” Zabka posted on Twitter. “Ready???! LET’S BEGIN!” the actor who plays Johnny Lawrence added, including a photo of production, clearly filmed under COVID-19 protocols, which might explain why it also took three-and-a-half months to shoot.
Martin Kove, who plays the villain in both the Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai included a number of references to the franchise in his wrap-up post:
Tonight, myself and the entire crew of COBRA KAI S4 officially wrapped! What a season, And what a year. A crew that is fearless and shows no mercy, through Covid we pushed on, we striked first and with a cast that strikes hard! @jonhurwitz @healdrules & @haydenschlossberg101 you have more energy than I knew was humanly possible. The Captains of our cobra Kai ship, leading us to glory daily, without your leadership we would be lost in the waters”, “Thank you @netflix and @sptv for allowing us to sweep the leg day in and day out. To @ralph_macchio & @william_zabka the battle rages on! I couldn’t be more humbled to work along side you both. Who put the work in day in and day out and day in and day out. And to the fans…..well….the real story has only just begun….but you know that! So get ready because COBRA KAI….NEVER…DIES!!!!”
Tonight, myself and the entire crew of COBRA KAI S4 officially wrapped! What a season, And what a year. A crew that is fearless and shows no mercy, through Covid we pushed on! See picture for full post. pic.twitter.com/lNVWSdDkno
— Martin Kove (@MartinKove) April 30, 2021
Netflix had been experiencing something of a drought of content of late, seeing the amount of new original content drop 50 percent from April 2020 until April 2021, which is part of a larger problem that resulted in fewer than expected new subscribers in the first quarter of 2021. Last week, however, it released the much talked about fantasy series Shadow and Bone, and the streamer has three of its biggest series on top for the fourth quarter of 2021, including Cobra Kai, The Witcher, and You.
Few details have been released about Season Four, except that Vanessa Rubio (Carmen) and Peyton List (Tory) will be back as regular cast members, and Dallas Dupree Young and Oona O’Brien have newly joined the cast. It does not appear, however, that Nichole Brown — who plays Aisha — will return for the fourth season, while there is no word on how much screentime the series’ worst character will get in the fourth season.
Xolo Maridueña, who plays Miguel Diaz, may have given away one spoiler for the fourth season, however.
Cobra Kai will return late in 2021.