Posted in: Cobra Kai, Netflix, streaming, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, Jon Hurwitz, netflix, Ralph Macchio, the karate kid, william zabka

Cobra Kai Co-Creator on Season 6 World-Building, Expanding Universe

Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz on Season 6 expanding the "Karate Kid" universe more than the combined previous seasons and world-building.

The Karate Kid franchise has come a long way in its 40 years since the John G. Avildsen Sony Columbia Pictures film from Robert Mark Kamen came out to theaters. The franchise originally featured Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, a bullied kid who finds a renewed sense of purpose after learning the ways of martial arts from Japanese war veteran Nariyoshi Miyagi, played by the late Pat Morita. Daniel ends up winning the All Valley Karate Tournament after defeating his bully and rival, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and his master John Kreese (Martin Kove) from Cobra Kai. A franchise was born that spanned five films, with two more featuring Macchio, three with Morita, and a 2010 remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. The legacy sequel series Cobra Kai, which premiered in 2018 on YouTube Red and is now on Netflix, was born – bringing back characters from the first three films, a new generation to instruct, and the prized one-time students of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai leading the way. With a sixth film on the way with Macchio and Chan to crossover and a sixth and final season to go, Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz promises an epic finish the way the previous five have never done.

Cobra Kai EP Jon Hurwitz Promises Season 6 Bigger Than Previous Seasons

"Season 6 expands the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai universe more than the first 5 seasons combined," Hurwitz wrote on social media. "The world-building has been truly exhilarating. Excited for everyone to see the diversity of scenes we've been filming episode to episode. We're going to so many new places in the Miyagiverse. #CobraKai #Netflix" The only thing we do know about season six is who's been confirmed casting in Sony's upcoming sixth untitled Karate Kid film with Ben Wang (American Born Chinese) as the new kid and Joshua Jackson. Whether they cameo remains to be seen. The Next Karate Kid (1994) star Hilary Swank denied any future involvement in the franchise (you can probably evoke the Andrew Garfield rule) as she's not only been the last major student from Mr. Miyagi but is also high on the demand list for Cobra Kai. We also don't know, outside of Macchio, if any other Cobra Kai cast like Zabka, Xolo Maridueña (Miguel), or Mary Mouser (Sam) will join The Karate Kid 6.

Aside from Kove, who's part of the featured cast of the Netflix series opposite Macchio and Zabka, most of the surviving primary cast from the 1984, 1986, and 1989 films have made some appearance, including Elizabeth Shue, Yuji Okumoto, Tomlyn Tomita, Sean Kanan, and Robyn Lively. Thomas Ian Griffith, who previously retired from acting, reprised his role from 1989's Part III as primary antagonist Terry Silver and joined the cast for season four. The season five finale could pass for a series finale with Terry's arrest and downfall of Cobra Kai as his conspiracy was unraveled thanks to the combined efforts of his enemies, not counting Kreese, with the adults delivering a more direct frontal assault against him and his entourage of sensei, and the youths sleuthing it up. Nothing has been released so far, as production on season six was delayed due to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

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