Cast:

Ralph Macchio……………………………Daniel LaRusso

William Zabka……………………………………Johnny Lawrence

Xolo Mariduena..………………………………Miguel Diaz

Mary Mouser…………..………………………Samantha LaRusso

Tanner Buchanan……………………………Robby Keene

Martin Kove…………………………………John Kreese

Jacob Mertrand…………..…………………………Eli Moskowitz

Peyton List…………………………………………..Tory Schwarber

Cobra Kai is a Netflix spinoff series based on the well-renowned ‘80s flick The Karate Kid. This film follows an earnest teenager named Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio) as he finds his place within the dark, violent karate community in his new town. In the movie, he quickly finds an enemy in resident champion Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka). The movie ends with sweet LaRusso beating antagonistic Lawrence in the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, gaining victory as the ultimate fighter.

Following the Karate Kid film created by Robert Mark Kamen, Josh Heald joins Kamen years later to create Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai is a TV-14 American martial-arts comedy-drama (“dramedy”) series on Netflix, consisting of 2 seasons. It started streaming on May 2, 2018. The pilot is set thirty-four years after the events that took place at that fateful high school tournament. A redemption-seeking Johnny Lawrence decides to reopen the notorious Cobra Kai dojo–the same dojo that sparked the high school rivalry with Daniel LaRusso.

The series continues to explore and delve into the themes of light vs. darkness, peace vs. calm, and ultimately, good vs. evil–that we were introduced to by the original ‘80s film series. The fact that Cobra Kai is a series and not just a single film allows the audience to develop empathy and connection to each and every character–and shows us that the fine line between good and evil is not simply just black and white.

In fact, Johnny Lawrence (the Karate Kid antagonist) is the protagonist of Cobra Kai. Viewers quickly and unanimously develop a liking for Lawrence, who has grown into quite the middle-aged bum. Sadly, Lawrence still lives in LaRusso’s shadow, which makes him a bitter and hard-edged man. LaRusso on the other hand is now incredibly wealthy and owns a successful car dealership. Not to mention, he is a proud father of his beautiful daughter Samantha and husband to his sweet wife and business partner Amanda.

The show fully embraces its campy overtone as Lawrence and LaRusso revisit their high school rival in a manner that is overtly cringe-worthy, especially for two grown men. Not only does this rivalry have its own share of water under the bridge, but it is blown up larger than life by the surrounding characters and events in quite a soap-opera manner.

As previously mentioned, Lawrence reopens the harsh Cobra Kai dojo after taking an innocent and awkward high school boy under his wing named Miguel Diaz (played by Xolo Mariduena) who lives in his apartment complex. The karate skills Diaz learns from Lawrence elevate him from a loser to a level of ultra-popular status at his high school. Soon, everyone wants to know where Miguel learned his karate moves. Timid, bullied kids quickly learn how to become “badass and hot” with Lawrence as their sensei, and Cobra Kai becomes a wild success.

Of course, LaRusso catches wind of this. Due to his negative opinion of Cobra Kai’s brutal philosophy of “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy” (and his lingering spite from high school), he creates his own dojo that competes with Lawrence’s–and so the rivalry ensues.

Cobra Kai doesn’t only have dad drama to offer–it has plenty of high school scandals as well to keep the younger viewers engaged. LaRusso’s previously mentioned teenage daughter Samantha (played by Mary Mouser) has quite the penchant for catfights and love triangles. Lawrence’s estranged teenage son Robby Keene (played by Tanner Buchanan) is the stereotypical bad-boy ladies’ man. Diaz turns out to have a rageful streak. Watching the characters blossom into their confidence and fully exalted personalities is regarded by viewers as highly entertaining.

This Netflix series’ modernized spin builds on the plot of the ‘80s film in a complex and dynamic way to relate and appease the generation of today. The show is sure to give hardcore fans of the original “Karate Kid” film lots of exciting mental twists and turns.

Season 3 is set to be released in 2021. Its pilot will premiere on January 8th, and fortunately, the show is renewed for season 4.

You can watch seasons 1-2 of Cobra Kai on Netflix, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video.