Classic ‘Karate Kid’ Villain Terry Silver Returns in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 4 (VIDEO)
Another blast from the past is joining Cobra Kai as Netflix announced Thursday that Terry Silver will be part of the upcoming fourth season.
Thomas Ian Griffith will be reprising his role as Silver, the main antagonist from The Karate Kid Part III. In the movie, Silver is introduced as a close friend of evil sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) from his military days, now a corrupt and wealthy man known for dumping toxic waste. Also a karate expert, he tricks Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) into training with him in an attempt to sabotage the young karate prodigy and redeem Cobra Kai in the eyes of the public.
The Karate Kid III and Griffith’s chaotic performance was panned by critics at the time—and the third movie would become the last in the franchise until Cobra Kai revived it for TV in 2018. Now, Griffith, who most recently appeared as himself in NBC’s Grimm, is set to bring back his most divisive character. And, judging by the new teaser (watch below), Terry still has the iconic ponytail.
“Since the beginning of the series, we’ve been carefully orchestrating the right moment to unleash Cobra Kai dojo co-founder Terry Silver back into the universe,” said executive producers and writers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. “That moment is now. We can’t wait for the whole world to experience Thomas Ian Griffith’s majestic return to the franchise.”
The teaser features a black-suited Griffith standing in the shadows with his back to the camera. A voice-over of some of his classic lines from the original movie plays over the footage: “If a man can’t stand, he can’t fight. If a man can’t breathe, he can’t fight. If a man can’t see, he can’t fight.” The clip ends with a caption reading: “Now the real pain begins.”
Speculation had been running rampant since the end of the Season 3 finale when flashbacks revealed that Cobra Kai villain Kreese saved Silver’s life in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp. Kreese was later seen making a phone call to an old friend, which many fans assumed was Silver, but Cobra Kai producers refused to confirm until now.
Season 4 of the hit Netflix series recently finished production, though a premiere date has yet to be announced.
