Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen.[1] The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. The series was released on YouTube Red / YouTube Premium for the first two seasons, before moving to Netflix starting with the third. The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively, from the 1984 film The Karate Kid and its sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989).
The first and second seasons launched on YouTube Red/Premium in May 2018 and April 2019. Netflix acquired the series in June 2020 after YouTube decided to stop producing scripted original programming. The third, fourth and fifth seasons were released in January 2021, December 2021, and September 2022, respectively. Production for the final season (6), stopped during the period of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed after January 1, 2024.[2] Season 6 will have 15 episodes, and will appear in three parts on July 18, November 28, and on an unspecified date in 2025.[3]
Cobra Kai re-examines the "Miyagi-verse" narrative from Johnny's point of view, beginning with his decision to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo, and the rekindling of his old rivalry with Daniel.[4] The series also stars Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio and Dallas Dupree Young, with Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith also reprising their roles from the films. The series takes place between 2017 and 2019.[5][6]
Cobra Kai has attained high viewership on both YouTube and Netflix, and has received critical acclaim for its writing, performances, action sequences, humor, character development, and faithfulness to the previous films. It has received numerous awards and nominations, with the third season being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
