Cobra Kai Season 3 was loaded with surprises, and the return of characters that The Karate Kid fans may have assumed were long gone was a great bonus. The Netflix series really pulled out all the stops with actors reprising roles, including Yuji Okumoto's iconic villain Chozen.
Though it had been years since Yuji Okumoto portrayed Chozen in The Karate Kid II, the actor had some big ideas for how to make his character's return more awesome. The actor spoke to The Seattle Times about his thoughts on Chozen, but found something a little surprising in the process.
You want to make sure that the character is well-written, well-developed because that was a huge part of my life. I just wanted to make sure that they paid deference to the character and his development. So they sent me the script and initially I thought it needed a little work. But I gave a little bit of input and the writers and also the producers, they really did a great job in capturing the essence of Chozen and how he would probably be after 30-odd years.
Yuji Okumoto isn't the first to compliment the Cobra Kai team on its understanding of The Karate Kid and its characters, so it's no surprise he was impressed with what was written for Chozen, with a little bit of input. It certainly was cool to see that the once-murderous and psychotic teen had repented his evil ways, and ultimately helped Daniel learn some secrets from Mr. Miyagi he hadn't known before.
The only unfortunate part of Chozen's return to Cobra Kai is that the character's arc was seemingly wrapped up after Daniel's departure from Okinawa. It's unknown whether or not we'll see the character again in Season 4 or any future season, though it's not like that wouldn't be a possibility provided Yuji Okumoto is up for more appearances.
Daniel may need the help of Chozen once more, especially given the current rumor that one of the most threatening villains from the character's past could be on his way to Cobra Kai. Actor Sean Kanan, who played Mike Barnes in The Karate Kid III, has confirmed he spoke to the producers of the show, but couldn't say much more than that. Barnes was one of Daniel's most fearsome opponents in the original franchise, so it wouldn't hurt for the character to ring up Chozen and ask if he had any more scrolls lying around that taught some more techniques he could use against Barnes if need be.
Season 4 of Cobra Kai is in development, and Seasons 1 through 3 can currently be binged on Netflix. While we don't know much about what past actors may reprise their roles in the Netflix series, there were two new actors recently announced for the series that can be read about here.
