The final season of Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai had been split into three batches of five episodes. The first will premiere on Netflix on 18th July.
When Cobra Kai premiered on YouTube Red back in 2018, few would have guessed quite how popular the show would become. What began as an affectionate, ‘by the fans for the fans’ legacy show grew into a behemoth that has become one of the biggest shows on Netflix.
What makes Cobra Kai so successful is that creators and writers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg give Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, reprising their roles of Daniel and Johnny, real character development and story arcs. All while mixing returning legacy characters like John Kreese and Terry Silver with the young cast of karate rivals.
According to Deadline, the synopsis for the sixth and final series reads as follows:
Picking up with Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley,” an official description for Season 6 says, “our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate.
The main change is that the final series will comprise of 15 episodes, which will be split into batches of five and dropped on Netflix over the next year. The first five episodes will premiere on Netflix on the 18th July, with the second dropping in November and the third in 2025. This is due to filming being severely delayed by last year’s SAG-AFTRA strikes.
In other news, the new Karate Kid film will see Macchio share the screen with Jackie Chan, who starred in the 2010 remake, for the first time. Jonathan Entwistle is directing from a screenplay by Rob Lieber. Ben Wang will star at the title character. It was recently confirmed that the release date has shifted to 2025 to avoid competing with Cobra Kai.
Watch the Cobra Kai date announcement trailer below:
