Cobra Kai is an American comedy-drama and martial arts television series. The series is a direct continuation and spin-off of the first four films in The Karate Kid franchise, and initially picks up 30 years after the 1984 titular film. [1] The series' first season premiered on the streaming service YouTube Red on May 2, 2018, [2] followed by a second season the following year on April 24, on the renamed YouTube Premium. [3] YouTube initially renewed and produced a third season of the series to release in 2020, [4] [5] but was not interested in developing any further seasons due to a shift from scripted to unscripted programming. [6] As a result, distributor Sony Pictures Television opted to look for a new service to stream the series. [7] Among other streaming services, Hulu and Netflix were named as possible new networks for the series. [8]
Contents
- Series overview
- Episodes
- Season 1 (2018)
- Season 2 (2019)
- Season 3 (2021)
- Season 4 (2021)
- Season 5 (2022)
- Season 6 (2024-25)
- Notes
- References
In 2020 it was ultimately announced that Netflix had purchased the completed third season, while YouTube and Netflix would share non-exclusive streaming rights to the first two seasons. [9] Netflix held the series until 2021 [10] and started production on a fourth season. [11] The third season, initially set to release on January 8, [12] was released a week earlier on January 1 to coincide with New Year's Day. [13] The fourth season streamed later that year on December 31. [14] A fifth season followed on September 9, 2022. [15] In January 2023, Netflix renewed Cobra Kai for a sixth and final season, [16] set to stream in December of that year. [17] Amid the 2023 Writers' Guild of America strike and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the season was initially delayed to 2024. [18] Netflix later announced that the final season would consist of 15 episodes and be released in three parts of five episodes; the first on July 18, 2024, followed by the second on November 28, and the final part on February 13, 2025. [19] The release date of part two was later changed to November 15. [20] [21]
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka returned from the film series as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence respectively. [22] New actors to the franchise include Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser. [23] Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio, and Dallas Dupree Young were all added to the main cast in later seasons after recurring in earlier ones. [24] [25] [26] Additionally, Martin Kove returned to the franchise to portray John Kreese with a main role beginning in the second season after a guest role at the end of the first, [27] while Thomas Ian Griffith reprised his role as Terry Silver beginning in the fourth. [28] Other characters from the film series have appeared as guest stars and recurring characters. [29] [30] [31] [32] Sony is developing a sixth feature film, to be released after the series concludes, that will tie-in with the 2010 reboot film and is set to star Macchio. [33]
Cobra Kai has received critical acclaim, [34] [35] [36] receiving nominations for multiple People's Choice and Emmy awards. [37] [38] [39] It also topped viewership charts on both YouTube and Netflix with each respective season's release. [40] [41] [42] [43]
During the course of the series, 65 episodes of Cobra Kai were released over six seasons, concluding on February 13, 2025. [44]
