The All Valley Tournament may be over, but the fight for dominance continues...
On New Year’s Eve, Netflix dropped another action-packed and satisfying season of Cobra Kai. Picking up right where things left off at the end of season 3. Dojo leaders Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) found themselves teaming up in order to take on longtime foe, John Kreese (Martin Kove), as they prepared for the All Valley Tournament. And while the two navigated their shaky alliance, Kreese recruited former comrade Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to help ensure his dominance over the would-be heroes.
Ahead of season 4’s debut, the platform revealed the Emmy-nominated series would be returning for season 5. That said, the creators and cast talk to ET’s Leanne Aguilera about the latest, epic finale and where things are headed in the future.
[Warning: spoilers for season 4, which is now streaming.]
In the end, LaRusso and Lawrence were able to stay on the right side of things, even if they disagreed on how to train their respective dojos and found themselves facing off with each once again. “The characters started so far apart… I love when the characters come back full circle,” Zabka says.
While their midseason showdown ended in a tie, there’s a chance they could fight again. “People have differences and those get in the way and light a fuse at any time,” Zabka says, suggesting the two senseis could “get into a full-on brawl” again.
Adding to that, Hayden Schlossberg says “anything is possible with Cobra Kai. We always say, ‘If you wanna see something Karate Kid-related, Cobra Kai is the show for you.”
“But we’ve been waiting to have Johnny and Daniel sort of team up,” Schlossberg adds.
For now, at least, “they’re on good terms,” the actor says, adding that he loves that Johnny and his son, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), have rekindled their relationship. “Hopefully we’ll see that expand a little bit.”
But nothing in the valley remains calm for too long and they’ll have to address where Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) has run off to. What the two adults don’t know yet is that after Johnny pushed him too far during the tournament, Miguel decided to go to Mexico City in search of his biological father and find out why he left him.
Looking ahead, Maridueña teases, “We don’t know if he makes it, if he doesn’t make it.”
“I have a lot of respect for our creators and everything that they’ve [done]. And even after getting thrown off a balcony, somehow they managed to redeem my character. So, I have a lot of trust in them and I know that regardless as to what happens, it will all be worth it. They’ll do it in a way that’s unexpected but also satisfying,” he says.
Meanwhile, “we have a new king in the valley,” Zabka adds.
After betraying Kreese, who was arrested for aggravated assault and attempted murder, Silver lived up to the iconic villain he was known for from The Karate Kid Part III by taking over the Cobra Kai dojo and becoming the master of his own kingdom. “It’s a wild ride,” Griffith says, revealing that “he is going to take advantage” of his newfound power. “Let’s see how that turns out.”
Not only that, but Cobra Kai teased the return of Chozen, who briefly appeared in season 3 after Yuji Okumoto first originated the role in The Karate Kid Part II. “Wasn’t that great?” Griffith exclaims, excited to see how Chozen, who appeared at Miyagi’s grave, might shake things up by aligning with LaRusso.
He adds, “That’s the genius of these guys taking the OG characters and finding really organic, amazing ways to cross them over and, you know, come into each other’s lives.”
“Daniel is in a moment of loss that he’s never really encountered before in series or, perhaps, in life and he’s about to make this total shift in his mind by going on the offense,” Josh Heald says. “There was so much more story there to tell with that character. There’s so much still unresolved in Chosen’s life. So, it was the right moment and the right person and the right time to come into Daniel’s world and to have this new team up.”
Of course, when it comes to this series, expect the unexpected. Especially from any alliance. “You’ll have to wait and see. You never know, we might twist it up,” Griffith teases, adding that season 4 was a “great launch” for his character’s return.
“There are places to build on,” Macchio adds, including “how Chozen falls into the world and what element of Miyagi-ism is brought into the forthcoming story. So, there’s a lot of conflict [to come].”
“We have a lot more in store, for sure. We are in the process of finishing season 5 and things just get more intense and the stakes just get higher from here,” Schlossberg teases.
Cobra Kai season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.
RELATED CONTENT:
