The dust has only just settled on what was Cobra Kai Season 4, but the powers that be behind the hit Netflix series aren’t wasting any time getting the show back on the road for the fifth chapter in the continuation of The Karate Kid movies and the franchise’s expansive universe…the Miyagi-verse, if you will. And, just like how the show centering on Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) continues to throw a lot at audiences in a short amount of time, we’ve put together a fast and furious list of things we already know about the show’s fifth installment.
Here is everything we know about Cobra Kai Season 5 including its cast, direction, and so much more…
Spoilers ahead if you’re not caught up on Cobra Kai through Season 4!
Ralph Macchio And William Zabka Will Be Back To Lead Cobra Kai Season 5
Before even a moment of the action in Cobra Kai Season 4 got underway on Netflix, the streaming giant ordered a fifth season, which will land at some point in the near future. No surprise here, but Ralph Macchio and William Zabka (who are also executive producers, as Deadline pointed out in August 2021) will be returning for the next chapter in their decades-long history. Even though there are still some lingering questions we have about the series moving forward, everyone is still rather optimistic about the show’s future and its collection of iconic characters, both from the original movies and more recent revival series.
Speaking of iconic Karate Kid characters coming stepping back into the dojo…
Terry Silver Looks To Be Cobra Kai Season 5’s Big Villain
There have been some vicious villains in the “Miyagi-verse” over the years, and at the top of that list is Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), the big bad from The Karate Kid Part III who came back and was worse than ever in Cobra Kai Season 4. With how things ended up going down for Silver and John Kreese (Martin Kove) in the latest offering from Netflix, you would think that he would be major player in Season 5.
Shortly after Cobra Kai Season 4 ended, Jacob Bertrand, who plays All-Valley champ Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz, sat down for an interview with People where he was asked if Terry Silver’s actions made him root for John Kreese, to which he said:
At the end of Season 4, that’s kind of how I felt. I was like, ‘[Terry] Silver’s so bad. We need [John] Kreese back in.’ He was more manageable, but Season 5 is all about trying to take down Silver. I don’t know. Kreese is an all-knowing evil, so that’s a scary wish to have.
Considering everything Terry Silver has done in the past (and what he continues to do), it looks like the “Miyagi-verse” has another big bad on the scene who’ll stick around.
There’s A Chance We See Daniel LaRusso And Johnny Lawrence Fight It Out Again
Over the years, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence have squared off a few times, including part-way through Cobra Kai Season 4 (which ended in a tie), but it sounds like the two bitter-enemies-turned-not-so-bitter-enemies haven’t seen the last of one another in a match quite yet. When speaking with ET Online following the release of the show’s latest season on Netflix, William Zabka made it seem like there’s always a chance the two former rivals could always square off again in the future, by saying that “people have differences” that could “light a fuse at any time” and turn into a “full-on brawl.”
He stopped short at saying the two are guaranteed to fight before Cobra Kai concludes at some point in the future, but the series does have a history of giving fans what they want more times than not.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Will Not Be The End Of The Line
In case you were under the impression that Cobra Kai is coming to an end any time soon, well, it looks like the show, and the “Miyagi-verse” is going to be around for a while longer, though the exact end date has not yet been announced or figured out. During a September 2021 Twitter Q&A session with fans of the Netflix series, Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz was asked if he, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg had finished planning Season 5, and if the endgame had been planned, to which he replied:
We are very deep into our Season 5 planning. Several scripts and outlines have been written. And we are definitely writing towards an endgame, which will hopefully be beyond Season 5.
Several months later, Josh Heald told ScreenRant that there is more beyond Cobra Kai Season 5, saying that the next stage in the story would be “enormous” before stressing once again that it is not the end. Not yet.
There Is Always A Chance Julie Pierce Shows Up On Cobra Kai At Some Point
With so many characters from The Karate Kid and its sequels showing up on Cobra Kai over the course of the first four seasons, it would only make sense for Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce from The Next Karate Kid to make an appearance at some point in the future. Although Ralph Macchio didn’t come out and say Swank would be appearing in Cobra Kai Season 5 (or beyond) during a chat with ReelBlend’s Jake Hamilton on his Jake’s Takes interview series, the actor said there’s a chance she could, simply because she knew Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita):
Anyone who knew Mr. Miyagi and interacted with Mr. Miyagi is canon for our show…Someone like Julie Pierce, who was Hilary Swank’s role, did know Miyagi, so there’s always a chance for maybe that.
This is great news for longtime fans of the series but also bad for fans of the 2010 The Karate Kid remake, as Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith’s characters don’t meet the criteria because they never knew the original Mr. Miyagi.
Production On Cobra Kai Season 5 Wrapped In December 2021
There is no telling when Cobra Kai Season 5 will premiere on Netflix, but don’t be surprised if it comes sooner rather than later, and that’s because production has not only already started on the next chapter, it’s already been completed. In December 2021 (before Season 4 even started streaming), the series co-creator took to Twitter to say that production wrapped with two words: “Five” and “Fin.” The post also included two hashtags further driving home the point: #ByeAtlanta and #CobraKai. This means we hopefully don’t have long before we pick back up with one of the best shows on Netflix.
Be on the lookout for more information on Cobra Kai Season 5, including a release date, trailer, and other details about the show’s return. In the meantime, check out our Netflix TV premiere schedule for the latest on all those new and returning series.