Netflix’s Cobra Kai is a rare example in how to reboot a franchise in the most crowd-pleasing way possible. Showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg succeeded in part because they are avid fans of The Karate Kid films and wanted to honor the ultimate legacy of Miyagi-do, and that devotion shows.
Back in 2018, the series launched on YouTube Red before moving to Netflix with a third season that was infuriatingly good and grew the show’s audience exponentially. Fast forward a few more years, and the final season is waiting in the wings to be engulfed, albeit in three parts with the first five episodes arriving in a few weeks as part of fifteen episodes to give the beloved series a proper conclusion. The finale will pave the way for the next movie with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and a certain sensei from the past.
Before we talk about where the story might go, it’s worth noting that Jon Hurwitz has addressed the three-part plan for the final season. In response to a viewer’s remark that he’d like to watch the full season at once but doesn’t want to run into spoilers while waiting to do so, Hurwitz responded with advice “to stop thinking of Season 6 as one final season and instead view it as 3 distinct mini seasons. Each batch was written knowing the release plan, so the experience was designed to be enjoyed in 5 episode chunks. Waiting for all 15 episodes to come out will not enhance your viewing experience.”
Now, let’s move on to what we can expect to happen next:
Plot
Before we get to the official Netflix synopsis, some input from the stars of the show provides some insight, and back before the sixth season received an official renewal, Ralph Macchio talked to UPROXX and dropped a few hints of where he thought the series might go:
“They’ve set up the international element of it, they’ve set up the Master Kim in Korea. They set up Kreese, and they also set up that everything’s going back to normal and they’ve finally succeeded. But in a soap opera, as Cobra Kai is a karate soap opera, when one door closes, there’s always more that will open. There’s certainly room for that, and bringing it in for a proper landing whenever that is.”
Whereas Jacob Bertrand, who portrays Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz, told us about his “dream” scenario:
“This is my dream, that I somehow am linked up with Kreese, fresh out of prison. We start some illegal ring of some sort, and I go back to the bad side. I’m kidding, but I think it would be so cool if we got a Season 6, and we actually got to go to some crazy world tournament. And actually go to Brazil or something and not like it have it be, ‘Oh we’re in Brazil! But it’s really just a basement studio in Atlanta.’”
That Hawk/Kreese team-up probably won’t happen, as fun as it sounds to witness. However, Netflix revealed in stills that not only does Hawk ^^^ have his mohawk back, but Kreese did in fact return to the dojo after leaving prison:
Will Terry Silver return? This doesn’t seem likely, and Thomas Ian Griffith merely smiled when we tried to coax an answer out of him, but he did make mention of the “ultimate full circle” of Terry’s fifth-season finale fight with Daniel, which suggests that he’ll be sitting this season out behind bars.
Netflix has promised to deliver “the biggest season, the baddest season, the final season,” and Hurwitz has further teased that “Season 6 expands the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai universe more than the first 5 seasons combined. The world building has been truly exhilarating.”
What else shall happen? Tori and Samantha need to become best friends and kick ass together while opening their own dojo, but perhaps that’s my own dream for the future. In actuality, Johnny will get another shot at fatherhood, and it looks like Kenny is still in his bully era.
Netflix has been generous in revealing these photos, but they are keeping most plot details close to their sleeve with only this description:
Picking up with Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai – the world championships of karate.
Cast
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka make this magic possible as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively. Yuji Okumoto will be back with his more lovable version of Chozen than the movie antagonist of yesteryear. There’s been zero confirmation that Thomas Ian Griffith will be back Terry Silver, but Martin Kove’s presence shall be enjoyed as John Kreese.
The younger cast members volley this show into the stratosphere, so thank goodness that we will see Xolo Maridueña as Miguel, Mary Mouser as Samantha, Jacob Bertrand as Eli/Hawk, Peyton List as Tori, Tanner Buchanan as Robby, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri, Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny, and Griffin Santopietro as Anthony.
Will Paul Walter Houser make a final appearance as Stingray? We hope, but Netflix hasn’t given us a peek at him in the dojo again. And who will be watching everything happen and judging the karate-obsessed adults silently? Courtney Henggeler as Amanda with Vanessa Rubio as Carmen, of course.
Release Date
The final season will arrive in three separate part with the first coming on July 18. The second will follow on November 28 (Thanksgiving Day), and the third has been earmarked for a nebulous date in 2025. Additionally, the next The Karate Kid movie was pushed back to May 30, 2025, presumably so that the series could lead into the next phase.
Trailer
A full trailer should be arriving any day, but for now, here’s the official date announcement video.