Netflix will be ending the year the right way with the premiere of Cobra Kai season 4. This means we’re lucky enough to get two seasons in a single year, as season 3 debuted on the streamer at the start of the year. Ahead of the New Year’s Eve drop of the new episodes, an official poster has been released, teasing the big karate tournament that’s coming. Will its conclusion live up to the original brawl between Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence?
We know that season 4 of Cobra Kai will be looking to redeem The Karate Kid Part III. Thomas Ian Griffith will be back as Terry Silver, reprising his role from the third Karate Kid movie. While the third installment wasn’t as well-received as its predecessors, Macchio recently explained in an Empire interview that there is still value there for fans in including elements from all of the movies, even that third one.
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“There’s another angle to Terry Silver, and when you call upon those stories and dive into the grey areas, it expands the universe and the story,” Macchio said. “It’s this chance to take something that didn’t work, and try to make fruit out of it. Can it bear fruit? It has. Season 4 is next level.”
As for what convinced Macchio himself to return for the series in the first place, before there were any guarantees that it would be a hit, the actor credits creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald. They all had an hours-long lunch to work out the details and Macchio was impressed with all he heard, saying, “As I started listening and peeling the onion layers off this concept, I saw the freshness in it. There was still a leap of faith, but I knew now was the time. I just trusted my gut.”
Set 34 years later, Cobra Kai is a legacy sequel to The Karate Kid. It takes an interesting approach by taking a major villain from the original movie in Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), putting him into more of a protagonist role that viewers may be surprised to find themselves rooting for. Many other franchise characters have also since gotten involved with the show, and there have been references as a way of paying tribute to Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi. At this point, we’re waiting to see Hilary Swank also appear at some point, but maybe they’re saving that for a surprise.
Cobra Kai was originally created for YouTube Red which is where its first two seasons were developed. Ahead of season 3’s launch, the show was picked up at Netflix where it found a new life with a much bigger audience, catapulting to become one of the world’s most popular shows. Season 3 debuted earlier this year at its new home on Netflix, and season 4 is the first season to be produced after the official move to Netflix. Better yet, a fifth season is confirmed to be on the way as well as Netflix has already put in the renewal.
Watch Cobra Kai season 4 when it drops on Netflix on Dec. 31.
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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been writing for MovieWeb and Horror Geek Life for years, is the self-proclaimed biggest fan of Bob Saget, and doesn’t particularly like talking about himself in the third person.
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