Who would have thought that “Cobra Kai,” now approaching its sixth and final season, would have become the huge Netflix hit that it is today? What makes this storyline even more interesting is the fact that the “Karate Kid” spinoff series didn’t even start out as a Netflix series. First reunited with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), “Cobra Kai” debuted on YouTube’s subscription service YouTube Red in 2018, then returned for a second season in 2019 The show that continued the story One of these rivals stretched his legs for high kicking and punching action and became one of the biggest hits of the. streamer. So much so that YouTube signed on for a third season before the video website changed its business strategy and shelved the series.
While “Cobra Kai” may have been out of favor at the time, a bidding war soon began between the streaming services – with Netflix ultimately winning. Getting that creative boost and upgrade from Netflix reignited the creators’ initial plans to toy with the idea of expanding the world of “Cobra Kai” beyond the scope of Johnny’s test friendship and Danny.
Cobra Kai creators always had spin-off ideas even before Netflix’s move
In a 2020 interview with /Film discussing future possibilities For the series, “Cobra Kai” creator Jon Hurwitz admitted that even before the third season arrived, ideas were being formulated for a spin-off of the series which was becoming a success. “We brainstormed ideas for spinoffs,” Hurwitz said. “We love the world of ‘The Karate Kid,’ we love all the characters from the era, and we love the characters we created. It’s hard for me to give you an exact answer to that question, but what What I can say is that we have a list of at least five different scenarios that we will pursue, that we might consider.”
Fast forward to 2024, and Season 6 perfectly sets up a spinoff for a beloved ‘Karate Kid’ character by digitally resurrect Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and make his past a central point of the series. His brief appearance in the final season opened up some interesting possibilities for the future – possibilities that the show’s creators have been talking about. The Hollywood Reporter. “Now that we’re done, we can actually start getting into this stuff,” said co-creator Hayden Schlossberg. “We just focused on ‘Cobra Kai’ and finished it. And right now we’re editing the last two episodes. Once that’s done, we’ll hopefully have some exciting things… ”
And none of this would be possible if Netflix hadn’t stepped in and saved the series.
