Cobra Kai never dies, it’s a sentiment that rings true of the franchise from which the TV spinoff was spawned as The Karate Kid legacy carries on. Helping deliver those throughlines between film and television are series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka who continue to play Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence.
As the series continues to look ahead to its fifth season, arriving Friday, September 9, the actors who also serve as executive producers on the Netflix megahit are looking back on the show’s most recent chapter and reflecting on the franchise. “We talked about this exact thing decades back, right William?” Macchio teases his costar.
Neither of the actors could have fathomed that The Karate Kid would turn into a long-running franchise that would enter the streaming world. “Of course not,” Babka responds. “I mean you can’t see, when you’re 18 years old… you can’t even imagine how much time that is. So, to be here with Season 5 about to come out is incredible.”
(Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix)
While their characters have learned to overcome their differences since the show’s debut in 2018, Macchio and Zabka’s sensei roles have been tested by the arrival of several former foes, including Kreese (Martin Kove) and most recently Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith).
As for surprises Johnny and Daniel might face in the future, Zabka says, “there’s not a whole lot of fruit left on that tree, but anybody that’s in…. the Miyagiverse… it has to be done right.” He goes on to add that Griffth’s addition in Season 4 “is amazing.”
The biggest joy for Macchio though has been diving deeper into characters viewers thought they knew, saying, “All of us have the ability with the Cobra Kai series to pull back the curtain on different layers of these characters that are grey sometimes, and not all good and not all bad.”
While the duo takes time to reflect on the video interview above, they also offer a brief tease of what viewers can expect from Season 5. And although not much can be said, they’re hinting at the continued presence of Terry Silver. “When you’re the only one who sees something, you come up looking like the crazy person,” Macchio says of his character’s understanding of what Terry Silver can be at his worst. “So, there’s a little bit of [Daniel] trying to make everyone understand how diabolical this guy is.”
“It’s a fun character journey,” Zabka promises. See what else their sharing and reflecting on in the full video interview, above, and stay tuned for more on Cobra Kai as Season 5 approaches this September.
Cobra Kai, Season 5 Premiere, Friday, September 9, Netflix