Cobra Kai’s Creators on What’s Next for the Hit Karate Kid Series

It’s the perfect round and it’s coming again to city. And by “town,” we imply “Netflix.” Cobra Kai season 4 debuts in a number of weeks and io9 talked to its creators about the place issues are going subsequent and what the trip has been like to this point.

Unless you’ve been dwelling beneath a bonsai tree, you in all probability know that Cobra Kai is the hit Netflix (previously YouTube) present that continues the story advised in The Karate Kid motion pictures. Creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald have led a stellar present that reveals how Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) have fared within the years because the authentic movies, together with a complete new forged of karate children, together with Daniel’s daughter Sam (Mary Mouser), Johnny’s son Robbie (Tanner Buchanan), and lots of others.

Season three ended with an enormous ultimatum. As Cobra Kai’s authentic sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) started to deliver extra college students to his facet, longtime rivals Johnny and Daniel determined to staff up, together with their feuding karate dojos. A deal was made: the winner of the All Valley Karate Tournament can keep in enterprise, the loser should give up. And for just a little further assist, Kreese known as in Terry Silver, the villain from The Karate Kid Part III, performed by Thomas Ian Griffin.

“We had a pretty clear sense of where we were headed [going into season four],” Jon Hurwitz advised io9 over video name. “We knew that season four was going to be this battle with Johnny and Daniel trying to work together and see how that’s going to turn out. And on the other side, with Kreese, we knew that he was going to be bringing in Terry Silver, and we knew the type of journey we wanted. We may not have known all the details of how the season was going to end specifically, but the shape of the season was it was certainly, firmly in our heads. And, some of the matchups in the [climactic All Valley] tournament, we knew, but some were discovered along the way.”

One of probably the most welcome surprises going into season 4—and it’s one which followers have been clamoring for—is the expanded position of Anthony LaRusso, performed by Griffin Santopietro. For three seasons, the story has largely adopted his older sister Sam, all however ignoring the truth that Daniel additionally has a son. That modifications this yr, with a contemporary twist.

“Anthony has been hiding in plain sight since season one,” Josh Heald stated. “We always talked about the the fun of Daniel kind of unintentionally raising this kid who is a little bit, probably, how Johnny grew up. Having too many toys, too much access to things, [and not being able to] figure out his own social dynamic. And as Anthony has grown up, we always knew it would be fun to experience what is his social life like? Who is he hanging out with? He’s not a bad kid, but middle school is that time where kids can be real pieces of garbage if you leave them unchecked. It’s a rough time for any kid to figure out themselves, and peer pressure is never a bigger thing than when you’re that age. And having this kid who’s been spending his entire series on iPads and PlayStations and devices, it felt very natural that that he could fall into something akin to cyberbullying.”

We gained’t spoil precisely what Heald means by that, however you’ll discover out very early within the season. And after that’s revealed, chances are high most followers will in all probability end Cobra Kai season 4 relatively rapidly, since Netflix is releasing your entire 10 episode collection directly. That means discuss will invitably flip to season 5, which has not solely been greenlit, however is effectively into manufacturing. However, Hurwitz admitted the subsequent season after this one is not going to have as clear a roadmap because the present did going from season three to 4.

“As we ended season four, we had a sense of what season five would be. But you know, it was a little bit more of a blank canvas in certain ways,” Hurwitz stated. “Partly because we quickly got into season five. It was one of those things where we weren’t expecting to be writing it this soon, but we were already in that Cobra Kai headspace. We had just written a season, filmed a season, we were in the midst of editing as we started writing again. Our team of writers, we were all sort of in it.”

“So it’s not like we didn’t know where [season five] was headed in certain ways, but certainly less had been figured out,” he continues. “But it’s been a fun adventure making season five on the heels of season four and just living in it. Just being in this zone for such a long stretch has been exhilarating and full of fun surprises.”

And you’re actually in for a ton of surprises when Cobra Kai season 4 debuts December 31. After you watch it, examine again right here for a dialogue about a number of the season’s huge spoilers.

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