‘Cobra Kai’ is a little bit of a miracle. It’s an extremely late TV sequel to and spin-off of the 80’s Karate Kid movies. It did face a lifetime ban. Scroll down to know why and how it got redeemed?
A phrase we often hear in the Karate Kid franchise is “Cobra Kai, Never Die“. And it seems like that same mentality has been adapted by ‘Cobra Kai’, the 34-years-late sequel series that was already a hit on YouTube Premium and has become an even more massive hit after landing on Netflix this past summer. Season 3 of the reboot is now streaming, and it’s never too early to start thinking about season 4 with a fun storyline that culminates in an epic finale. And, well, we’ve got some good news: Season 4 is really in the works already.
Highlights —
- ‘Cobra Kai’, a lifetime ban?
- Then how did Johnny redeem ‘Cobra Kai’?
For the franchise, each season of ‘Cobra Kai’ has done something different. The creators said that the series is scheduled for at least a 5-6 season story arch. Season 1 introduced (or, in some instances, re-introduced) viewers to the characters, season 2 expanded on those characters, season 3 showed those characters in new situations and gave us their background in some cases. We don’t know where season 4 is going to go, but we do know that for the first time, we’re going to see something new: Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso working fully together.
‘Cobra Kai’, a lifetime ban?
Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) was shocked to hear that the ‘Cobra Kai’ dojo had received a lifetime ban from the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 1, and he didn’t know why. ‘Cobra Kai’ is now streaming on Netflix, set 34 years after the Karate Kid events, and reignites the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). In reality, in ‘The Karate Kid Part III’, what ‘Cobra Kai’ did to Daniel is the reason the black and yellow karate dojo was kicked out of the San Fernando Valley.
Part III of the Karate Kid showed that ‘Cobra Kai’ was much worse than Daniel might have expected, and they deserved their ban for life. Destitute John Kreese turned to his former Vietnamese veteran and benefactor, Terry Silver, months after he lost his dojo (Thomas Ian Griffith). Silver was a multimillionaire and the CEO of the DynaTox company, and he was even worse than John, his old friend. With an even more ambitious plan to take over the valley, Terry decided to re-start ‘Cobra Kai’.
But Daniel was fooled into defending his championship against ‘Cobra Kai’s’ latest handpicked star pupil, karate’s bad boy Mike Barnes, at the heart of his scheme (Sean Kanan). Terry befriended Daniel and manipulated his insecurities and temperament, coercing LaRusso to leave Miyagi and join ‘Cobra Kai’. The ‘Cobra Kai’ senseis ordered Barnes to use blatantly unconstitutional tactics against LaRusso in the All Valley tournament after Daniel discovered the truth about Silver and Kreese. But Daniel still defeated Mike Barnes, once again humiliating ‘Cobra Kai’.
Then how did Johnny redeem ‘Cobra Kai’?
Johnny faced the city council in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 1 after he learned that his dojo was banned for life from entering the All Valley Tournament, thanks to Terry Silver and John Kreese. In reality, Daniel was the top victim of ‘Cobra Kai’, and is now a city council member and had enforced the prohibition. But Johnny passionately argued his case for his dojo, despite LaRusso violently objecting to ‘Cobra Kai’ being reinstated.
Johnny was passionate about pleading his case for his dojo. Johnny argued that his ‘Cobra Kai’ was not the same as the one run by Kreese and Silver; in fact, Lawrence had never even heard of Terry Silver, which was the truth because Johnny was not in Part III of ‘The Karate Kid’. The year before, Johnny had left Kreese’s ‘Cobra Kai’ and he had no part in what happened to Daniel in the All Valley Tournament of 1985.
In spite of Daniel’s wishes, Johnny’s defence of his dojo moved the council. ‘Cobra Kai’ won the All Valley Tournament for the first time since 1983 when Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) defeated Johnny’s son and Daniel’s student Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) in the finals.
After the show’s arrival on Netflix on New Year’s Day, ‘Cobra Kai’ fans have already raced through season 3 and are now busy predicting what could be on the season 4 cards. Let us know what you think will happen. Drop your comments in the box below.
