After six seasons, Cobra Kai is coming to an end, but it’s clear that The Karate Kid franchise is far from over.
The Netflix series takes place more than 30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, with the continuation of the longtime conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Looking back on the last six years — which began with a two-season stint on YouTube Red before moving over to the streamer — and reprising his role, Macchio said what he’s going to miss most is working with the cast and crew.
“We’re going to be friends for life, that’s just the way it works in The Karate Kid universe, such deep relationships,” the star told The Hollywood Reporter at the show’s Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday. “I’ll miss creating with them, but I have a feeling we will create in other ways — to me it’s not goodbye forever, it’s I’ll see you next time.”
That time may be coming sooner rather than later, because shortly after the final season comes out — being released in three, five-episode chunks — a new Karate Kid movie will head to theaters, starring Macchio and Jackie Chan. Chan previously starred as a martial arts master in the 2010 remake alongside Jaden Smith, which Macchio did not appear in.
“Jackie Chan is a legend, just to have that opportunity was exciting. He was wonderful,” Macchio said of working together on the new movie, which will come out next year. “Lot of heart, lot of soul and caring, I will say that about Jackie. He loves being on set and it was like his first day every day. I love seeing that at his age and time of his career because I like to try to bring that as well, but a great young cast on that one, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Cobra Kai showrunners Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald have talked to the team behind the film, including director Jonathan Entwistle, as Heald explained, “We share a universe, but it’s a big universe with lots of different planets on it so our show is existing in one ecosystem, and that’s in another. They’re both part of The Karate Kid, and we’re proud that there’s that much interest in the world for more and more.”
Hurwitz added that Macchio kept them in the loop throughout the process and “that movie takes place after the events of Cobra Kai, so we had already told him where this series was ending so that he could have that headspace going into that.”
After playing the character for much of his life, Macchio said he would be willing to hang it up “when it’s no longer truthful. From when I got the part in 1983, I went at this role and wanted to play the truth, the honesty of what this kid was going through. And I try to do that with Cobra Kai, even as heightened as it gets, I try to play what is true for the character, and I do that with the movie. So when that truth goes away, I think it’ll be time to put it to rest.”
Of putting the series to rest, Heald emphasized the value of “being able to end the series on our terms” and tell Sony and Netflix that “we want to bring this in for a landing, we don’t want to overstay our welcome. We love shows like Grey’s Anatomy, but we don’t aspire to be that with this series. We want this series to be tight and cohesive and have a beginning, middle and end that we are always writing toward, and we’ve been able to do that.”
Cobra Kai season six – part one is now streaming on Netflix, with part two set for Nov. 15 and part three to be released in 2025.
Ryan Fish contributed to this report.
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