Cobra Kai is headed into Season 5, and with Daniel and friends set to square off against Terry Silver and his planned franchise of Cobra Kai dojos, it feels like the story is only just getting started. As such, folks are wondering about whether or not the series will spur any other Karate Kid sequels or prequels. Actor Ralph Macchio was recently asked about the potential, and gave a response that fans will want to hear.
Ahead of Daniel LaRusso’s potential reunion with former fierce rival Mike Barnes, Ralph Macchio spoke to ComicBook.com about the potential of the franchise and a possible “cinematic universe." He said:
The thing that's been created, there's kind of this Karate Kid Cinematic Universe now where Cobra Kai is, you know, at the center of that and when that day does come in for a landing, there are other areas to draw from. I mean, whether it's ... Is there a Miyagi origin story? Is there a Cobra Kai prequel before The Karate Kid? Is there spin-offs with some of the young cast of these characters? Who knows? But we're not done as long as we're given the opportunity to really bring it in. As long as it evolves organically, these guys that write the show really have their finger on the pulse of that.
Ralph Macchio mentioned a lot of ideas, and even though most of them are just concepts, they sound great. I would absolutely love to see a Miyagi origin story and think there’s definitely potential in a series that follows another one of the other characters more closely. The latter might actually become necessary at some point, as stars like Xolo Mariduena take on new roles like DC’s Blue Beetle. Cobra Kai has a lot of options, especially with the creative minds of its showrunners at the lead.
The well of ideas for Cobra Kai is so deep, apparently, that the writers have gotten in the habit of holding onto some for use in future seasons. Ralph Macchio even shared that there are things they shot during filming for Season 5 that we may see in future seasons, assuming Netflix keeps the show running:
There's stuff that they wrote in Season 3 that didn't happen until Season 4 'cause there wasn't any more room in Season 3. There's stuff that was in Season 5 that we know we shot that is being held for the future if we get that green light, so there's more to come, we hope.
It sounds like Cobra Kai has a bright future planned, provided it gets the runway to continue telling its story. It doesn’t seem like interest has waned over five seasons, but it will be interesting to see how many Karate Kid spinoffs do happen years from now. I know I wouldn’t mind seeing a series that brought back Julie Pierce, and maybe an appearance in the Netflix show could set that up perfectly. We do know the Cobra Kai showrunners have discussed bringing her back, so there are ideas if they can sway actress Hilary Swank to return.
For now, there’s still plenty of story in Cobra Kai to address. Chozen Toguchi, one of the franchise's most vicious villains-turned-good guys, joined forces with Daniel, and let’s not forget that Terry Silver framed John Kreese for a crime he didn’t commit. There are a lot of questions we’re hoping Season 5 answers, so here’s hoping there was enough time to properly address most of them.
Cobra Kai Season 5 premieres on Netflix on Friday, September 9th. Get ready for what should be an exciting batch of episodes by making the most of a Netflix subscription. The new season will decide the fate of the Valley, at least in terms of what type of karate it’ll learn.
