Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, karate kid

Cobra Kai Creators on Tory's Dark Turn, Sekai Taikai & What's Next

Cobra Kai creators/showrunners Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg, and Jon Hurwitz spoke with Bleeding Cool about Tory's fateful decision, new faces this season, and what the future might hold.

With part two of the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai release looming on Netflix, creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald dropped a bombshell to close part one with Tory Nichols (Peyton List) turning her back on Miyagi-Do despite her insistence to work through her pain and rejoin John Kreese (Martin Kove) at Cobra Kai's side in the Sekai Taikai. The trio spoke to Bleeding Cool to provide context on Tory's range of emotions that led to her fateful decision, how the cliffhanger compares to previous seasons, teasing the franchise's future, and what forms it could take.

Cobra Kai Creators Make Sense of Tory Nichol's New Drive to Win It All at the Sekai Taikai

Bleeding Cool: The twists and turns with the allegiances have been the show's norm, but what has been the fans' reception to Tory defecting to 'Cobra Kai' at the end of season six, part one?

Heald: Each fan is an individual, but collectively, they were as upset as they should be. Episode five of the first part was a tough one. We've been building for years that Tory's mother, Grace [Bethany DeZelle], was sick and at the absolute wrong time. Her mom passes, and Sensei  Kreese revisits her in the Valley, and she has this feeling in her head that she thought she was with Miyagi-do. She thought she had this connection with all these people, but when that fight with [Sam] happened, she was laser-focused on trying to fight through her pain.

When the fight stopped, she couldn't help but have Kreese's voice in the back of her head, saying she would never have that fair shot there. [Tory] felt so determined to do right by her mother's legacy and the promises she made to her mom to keep fighting in general she felt that was her only way. Whether she was right is a big question mark, but she chose during an emotional time. In the middle of five episodes, we see how the choice carries out there, but it was something we didn't expect people [enthusiastically] to all be like, "Great! Tory's in Cobra Kai again." We thought people would be upset, and they rightfully were.

How does that turn compared to Miguel's (Xolo Maridueña) fall during the school fight early during the show's run or the return of Thomas Ian Griffith's Terry Silver? Where does the end of season six, part one compare?

Hurwitz: It's subjective depending on who you are, the fandom, and which characters you know are most meaningful to you. We write every episode with a desire to leave you at the end wanting more and to feel a cliffhanger of sorts. We look at those mid-season finales as an opportunity to dial that up a few notches.

If you're invested in the story at this point, it's not going to carry the same type of emotional weight as Miguel being in a coma. It's going to carry a gut punch for the audience that's been rooting for peace in the Valley and rooting for Sam and Tory to get past their former issues and see the beginning of that thaw. Then, the rug is pulled out from underneath it in multiple ways. It should bear an emotional toll on the audience for the story to have weight.

When finding a forum for continuing 'The Karate Kid' franchise beyond season six, there's been talk of spinoffs, and you wanted to explore that. Have you guys talked to Netflix and Sony about maybe doing a streamer-exclusive film of that nature, or will it be a straight-up series?

Schlossberg: We don't want to divulge too much at this point except to say we're open to all possibilities. Different types of formats make sense depending on the story you're telling. We think about all the characters from the original movies to the [original] characters we've created for 'Cobra Kai,' including the new characters we've just created in this second part of season six. There are a lot of different possibilities when we hang out and think about all of them. There are variations, and you start to think, "Is this a movie, a limited series, or a full series?" We can't say anything definitively right now, except we think about all possibilities.

Cobra Kai season six, part two, which also stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, and Gianni DeCenzo, will be released on November 15th on Netflix, and part three will be released in 2025.

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