“They’re Not Holding Back”: Cobra Kai Season 6’s “New Level” Of Fights Teased By Miguel Actor & Co-Showrunners
Summary
The co-creators ofCobra Kaigive a detailed response about the potential for more stories and spinoffs. After a long wait, the series-endingCobra Kaiseason 6will debut on Netflix in just a few weeks. Split into three parts, the first five episodes will be released on July 18. The next five arrive on November 28, and then the final five will drop sometime in 2025. But, over the years, there have been hints that the story will continue even once the Emmy-nominated show comes to a close.
DuringScreen Rant’s visit to theCobra Kaiset, co-creators Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald addressed the possibility of spinoffs and more adventures set in the overall Miyagi-verse in a roundtable interview. The duo, who co-created theKarate Kidspinoff with Hayden Schlossberg, confirm thatthere is interest in spinoff shows, and Heald goes on to mention that there are potential ideas in the works. Regardless, though, Heald saysthe ending will be satisfying even without a continuation. Read their quotes below:
Jon Hurwitz:What we can say is that we have significant interest in doing more things in this universe. We have multiple ideas of the things that we would like to do. It’s really just sort of taking the time. We’ve been so busy with this season that we haven’t had those meetings with Sony and Netflix, where we’re like, “Okay, here’s the overall gameplan of what we would like to do going forward.”
Everyone’s aware that we’d like to do more work. I feel like it’s a mutual feeling, and I think people are aware of certain worlds or areas that we’re talking about. But, we think that by the end of this season 6, people will still have interest in where these characters can go, and that there will be fun to be had in, hopefully, different kinds of ways, we’ll see.
Josh Heald:We have always taken a very deliberate approach to how we steer these characters, how we leave cliffhangers hanging from season to season, from episode to episode. Our writers room has become, you know, it looks like A Beautiful Mind with the amount of characters we have now, and the amount of arcs and the amount of relationships. You could draw straight line between any two characters, and there’s a rich arc between them, because of how many episodes and how many seasons there are of the soap opera we’ve been telling.
From the very beginning, we’ve had a very clear idea, and a macro sense of how we were bringing this ship in for a landing. There were always hazy things, in terms of, it’s not like what you’re seeing there is like, “Yeah, on day one, we pitched the show, we knew it was this day exactly”. But we did know the feel, we did know the relationships, we did know the landings. And I could say we’ve been very careful and specific about how we are leaving this universe when the credits roll on that final episode. There should be a feeling throughout the fandom of satisfaction, and also, you should be a little hungry for what comes next, what might come next. But it should also work on both levels, if it never came next, that should be satisfying, like the end of The Karate Kid.
So, we always leave food on the vine, we have a gazillion ideas of where this series and this franchise goes. But that’s up to the timing and the network studio partners in terms of how heavy and how fast and how soon we lean into all of that. But, there are some things percolating, and then there’s about six or seven other ideas that we have to really pour gasoline on it, and that becomes a discussion.
I’ll say every ball that’s in the air, we’re aware of. I will say we are capable of different kinds of endings, as you’ve seen. There’s the season 3 ending, where everyone’s bowing to each other, and Phil Collins is blasting, and we’re all feeling great. And then there’s the season 2 ending, a kid kind of died, and we don’t know what happens. And then, the show moves platforms, and nobody knows what happens for a long time. So, we are capable of Empire Strikes Back, we are capable of Avengers: Endgame. But all the relationships, nobody cares more about them than us, and nobody hates hanging chads more than us.
So, if there are things left hanging, we’re leaving them hanging for a reason, because we love discourse. And we love people to be able to kind of imagine what might come after the final curtain. But any relationship that’s in flux, is always where we begin the writers room every year to say, “Where have we been? Where did we leave things? What’s unresolved? Are we going to leave it unresolved? Or are we going to resolve it and then resolve it again?” But all the tie ups should be satisfying, from a storytelling perspective, whether they’re happy, sad or murky.
What The Cast & Executives Have Said About Cobra Kai Spinoffs
The Franchise Is Unlikely To End Here
Katherine Pope, the president of Sony Pictures Television Studios (which is behindCobra Kai), has been asked about what’s next for the show. Pope affirmed that the creators were interested in expanding the universe, which they now reassert themselves. Even though Pope largely took the opportunity to clarify the separation between the Netflix series andthe upcomingKarate Kidmovie, the executive did sound optimistic aboutCobra Kaiand noted that there were ideas about spinoffs.
For his part, during an April 2023 interview, Ralph Macchio seemed to suggest there would be moreCobra Kaiafter season 6. The actor, who plays the central character of Daniel LaRusso, has even shared his thoughts about potentialCobra Kaispinoffs and singled out the possibility ofa show that could potentially focus on Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo).It’s not the first time that a Hawk/Demetri sequel show has been mentioned, so that could be a possibility worth looking out for.
Cobra Kai Never Dies: Season 6 Almost Certainly Won’t Be The End
Cobra Kai season 6 may officially mark the end of 1 narrative arc for the series, but for several reasons, it certainly cannot be the franchise’s end.
With the final five episodes of the dojo dramedy planned for 2025, it is a little early to say definitively what the next chapter forCobra Kai’s cast of characterswill be. But looking at all the statements from the cast, crew, and even executives, it’s safe to say there’s a general interest in keeping the successful franchise alive. Any more details will likely wait until further down the line.
Cobra Kai
Cast
Cobra Kai is a sequel series continuing the narrative of the Karate Kid saga, set 30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. It focuses on Johnny Lawrence seeking redemption by reopening the Cobra Kai dojo, reigniting his rivalry with Daniel LaRusso, who strives to maintain balance in his life.
