After five complete seasons — across two different platforms — “Cobra Kai” may know better than most series what it takes to survive in the business. Back in the dojo to begin its sixth and final season, the Karate Kid franchise spinoff series has big plans for the year ahead. It all begins Thursday, July 18, on Netflix.
“Cobra Kai,” the karate-centric dramedy series from creators Jon Hurwitz (“Obliterated”), Josh Heald (“Hot Tub Time Machine,” 2010) and Hayden Schlossberg (“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” 2004), had audiences and “The Karate Kid” (1984) fans gripped from its very first episode back in May 2018. At that time, the budding series was an original YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) production, but in 2020, when YouTube opted to sweep the leg on the series, Netflix picked it up and kept the action rolling just as it had previously done with shows such as “Arrested Development,” “Lucifer” and “Manifest.”
An expansion of what fans of the franchise are now calling the Miyagiverse — thanks to the late Pat Morita’s (“Mulan,” 1998) classic role as Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid film franchise — “Cobra Kai” follows the 1984 film’s lead protagonist and antagonist, Daniel “Daniel-san” LaRusso (Ralph Macchio, “My Cousin Vinny,” 1992) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka, “How I Met You Mother”), now grown up and reuniting their spirited feud thanks to their ties to opposing dojos in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.
Despite the series having been pretty high-octane until the surprisingly tame Season 5 finale, the cast and crew wish for fans of the show to note that there is a lot planned for the coming sixth season.
“With Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley,” reads the official Netflix description, “our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate.”
While many of the actors have remained tight-lipped about the details of Season 6, others, like Gianni DeCenzo (“Coop and Cami Ask the World”), who plays Demetri Alexopoulos, have been more open to sharing their thoughts and feelings during interviews — even if sometimes the answer is unexpected. For example, when What’s On Netflix reporter Jacob Robinson asked what’s in store for Demetri in Season 6, DeCenzo replied: “He slips and falls and dies.”
“No ...” DeCenzo soon clarified, “He’s become better at karate. He got a super hot, super popular girlfriend. Things have been going great for him. He ended up in the semifinals of the All-Valley tournament, which was his first tournament ever, and it was terrific. So yeah, I want to see him grow even more in Season 6. And yeah, I can’t give out any spoilers, but it will be a great season.”
“Cobra Kai” also stars Martin Kove (“The Karate Kid,” 1984), Xolo Mariduena (“Blue Beetle,” 2023), Jacob Bertrand (“Ready Player One,” 2018), Mary Mouser (“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” 2014), Peyton List (“Bunk’d”), Courtney Henggeler (“Mom”), Tanner Buchanan (“Designated Survivor”), Vanessa Rubio (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”), Dallas Dupree Young (“The Big Show Show”), Yuji Okumoto (“The Karate Kid Part II,” 1986), Alicia Hannah-Kim (“Minx”), Griffin Santopietro (“The Week Of,” 2018) and Oona O’Brien (“Sky High,” 2020).
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