List of Cobra Kai episodes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cobra Kai is an American comedy-drama and martial arts television series. The series is a direct continuation and spin-off of the first four films in The Karate Kid franchise, and initially picks up 30 years after the 1984 titular film.[1] The series' first season premiered on the streaming service YouTube Red on May 2, 2018,[2] followed by a second season the following year on April 24, on the renamed YouTube Premium.[3] YouTube initially renewed and produced a third season of the series to release in 2020,[4][5] but was not interested in developing any further seasons due to a shift from scripted to unscripted programming.[6] As a result, distributor Sony Pictures Television opted to look for a new service to stream the series.[7] Among other streaming services, Hulu and Netflix were named as possible new networks for the series.[8]
In 2020 it was ultimately announced that Netflix had purchased the completed third season, while YouTube and Netflix would share non-exclusive streaming rights to the first two seasons.[9] Netflix held the series until 2021[10] and started production on a fourth season.[11] The third season, initially set to release on January 8,[12] was released a week earlier on January 1 to coincide with New Year's Day.[13] The fourth season streamed later that year on December 31.[14] A fifth season followed on September 9, 2022.[15] In January 2023, Netflix renewed Cobra Kai for a sixth and final season,[16] set to stream in December of that year.[17] Amid the 2023 Writers' Guild of America strike and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the season was delayed to 2024.[18]
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka returned from the film series as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence respectively.[19] New actors to the franchise include Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, and Mary Mouser.[20] Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Payton List, Vanessa Rubio, and Dallas Dupree Young were all added to the main cast in later seasons after recurring in earlier ones.[21][22][23] Additionally, Martin Kove returned to the franchise to portray John Kreese with a main role beginning in the second season after a guest role at the end of the first,[24] while Thomas Ian Griffith reprised his role as Terry Silver beginning in the fourth.[25] Other characters from the film series have appeared as guest stars and recurring characters.[26][27][28][29] Sony is developing a sixth feature film, to be released after the series concludes, that will tie-in with the 2010 reboot film and is set to star Macchio.[30]
Cobra Kai has received critical acclaim,[31][32][33] receiving nominations for multiple People's Choice and Emmy awards.[34][35][36] It also topped viewership charts on both YouTube and Netflix with each respective season's release.[37][38][39][40]
As of September 9, 2022,[update] 50 episodes of Cobra Kai have been released, concluding the fifth season.[41]