‘Cobra Kai’ EPs Answer Burning Season 5 Questions, Tease Hopes for Season 6
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Cobra Kai Season 5.]
Cobra Kai‘s latest season was filled with twists and turns, surprise returns, and life-altering developments for the beloved characters of the Karate Kid sequel series.
Whether it was the intense season-long battle between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and foe Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) or Johnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) effort to bring his family closer together, there was no shortage of drama. Below, the creators and executive producers of Netflix’s hit series — Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg — are answering all of our burning Season 5 questions and hinting at what might be next for the senseis and their proteges moving forward.
On Robby & Miguel’s New Relationship
(Credit: Courtesy of Netflix)
Robby (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) put their differences aside this season after Johnny informed them that Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) was expecting a baby, essentially linking the boys through blood in their ever-evolving blended family. “Robby and Miguel have a long history of resentment towards each other,” Hurwitz notes. “And it came to a major head at the end of Season 2, and it was a pivot point in both their lives and ever since.”
“[We’ve] been looking forward to them finally putting some of that drama behind them,” acknowledges Hurwitz. “So it’s fun having Johnny trying to bring his two sons together. They’re on a good path right now,” he adds, noting that it doesn’t mean there’s completely smooth sailing in the potential future. “As with all relationships, there’s always a potential for drama to bubble up again.” For now the characters are left in “a refreshing place” and the possibilities of where Carmen’s pregnancy could take the family in a possible sixth season are endless.
Villains No More?
(Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix)
“Season 5 ends in a way that feels like it could be over,” Schlossberg says. “And we liked the idea of doing that, making it where some of our rivalries are now resolved and the head of the snake has been cut off.” The head of the snake he’s referring to is Terry Silver who had his house of cards toppled by Daniel, Johnny, their friends, and family. “It’s now peacetime in the valley, and at the same time, we know that king cobra, John Kreese (Martin Kove) has escaped prison and is not happy with anybody on the outside,” Schlossberg adds. “So peace is just the lull between battles.”
Outside of the battles, Season 5 hinted at potentially big things to come for the students of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, as well as Cobra Kai when they were accepted to compete in the Sekai Taikai Tournament abroad. Could this mean there will be a shift of focus from Valley rivalries to big competitions beyond the neighborhood? “When it comes to world tournaments, it just means even bigger competition. And the kids on our show have gotten better each season with their martial arts. It’d be fun to see them face the best around,” Schlossberg notes.
Brains vs. Braun
(Credit: Courtesy of Netflix)
Defeating Terry Silver was one of Daniel LaRusso’s biggest challenges yet, but it wasn’t all about throwing kicks and punches. It was a battle of wit as the wealthy villain repeatedly made the underdog out to be crazy for his campaign against the Cobra Kai proprietor. “There are multiple fronts that Terry Silver lost at the end of the season,” Heald acknowledges. “There’s the loss of power in the eyes of those who are your followers,” he says, pointing out the fact that a tape released online reveals Terry’s cheating ways to his own students. ”
“Then there’s Daniel actually being able to physically beat him. There’s obviously Johnny, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), and Barnes (Sean Kanan), chipping away at him a little bit as they go to his house and really unsettle him. So there are three prongs that kind of take this Terry down in a very Avengers-level type of way,” Heald adds. “But it really did boil down to that moment where Daniel’s leaning into his past once again, to find the strategy for how to take this guy out.”
Amanda’s Cousin Jessica Andrews
(Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix)
One of the surprise reveals for Season 5 was the return of Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews, one of Daniel’s old friends from The Karate Kid Part III. It turns out that she’s cousins with Daniel’s wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler). When it came to bringing Lively back, Hurwitz says, “She has the greatest energy and is so cool. We were big fans of hers, not only from Karate Kid III but all of the movies that she did in our childhood.”
“We’ve been wanting to find an opportunity to bring her back,” he admits. The main concern Hurwitz shares is that “with any returning cast members, it always starts with the place of the present-day story. The story that we’re telling this season is Daniel versus Silver, and Daniel comes off like a crazy person for most of the season. It feels so insane that he’s so worked up about this guy, but the one person who was there at the time who, who could speak to it was Jessica Andrews.”
That’s what led the trio to Lively’s Jessica, “because they were friends and not a love story, it felt to us that at this time when Amanda can’t understand Daniel and is sort of at her wit’s end, that she retreats to go home. And it was a perfect opportunity to find out that Jessica was her cousin.” And if fans felt the familial chemistry, they’re not alone. Hurwitz notes, “As soon as [Robyn and Courtney] met on set, they were instantly cousins. It felt like they might as well be family. So it kind of worked out perfectly.”
What About Mike Barnes?
(Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix)
Sean Kanan’s Mike Barnes also returned this season and had his seemingly perfect life flipped upside down when Daniel connected with him in search of help to take Terry Silver down. In retaliation, Terry had Barnes’ business burned to the ground, leaving him in rough shape. But the man sought revenge as the season came to a close. Could he possibly be back someday?
“We’ll have to see what the future holds,” Schlossberg teases. “We don’t wanna spoil anything [that could happen] except to say we loved working with Sean Kanan and now Mike Barnes has been thrust into these characters’ lives. So it’s more likely that he can be a part of the stories going forward.”
Schlossberg also points out that in the surprise attack on Terry’s house, Barnes “got a Rembrandt that went missing from the Gardener Museum heist. So he could be the richest guy in his universe for all we know.”
Beyond Valley Borders
(Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix)
With the reveal of the Sekai Taikai Tournament in Season 5, which is a global event set abroad. Could this mean that Chozen and Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) could return for a sixth season in Japan? “Look, any character that’s been in the franchise is still up for grabs for continuing and recurring on this show,” Heald shares. “And as to whether we go beyond the Valley, we have already been to Okinawa. So, we could see Cobra, Kai [go] international.,” he adds. “We could see something else happen. There’s a lot of story to tell. There are some explosive things on the [potential] horizon.”
Cobra Kai, Streaming now, Netflix
