Cobra Kai season 6 is set to be the end of the road for the show. Let’s take a look at everything we know so far.
“Cobra Kai never dies” – that may be true, but all good things must come to an end, including the hit Netflix show that announced the upcoming sixth season will be its last. The series that has quickly become a cult classic (just like the original film) centers around the premise of karate and the two different styles/variations of the martial art that Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) teach to their students. Despite airing more than thirty years after the original movie premiered, Cobra Kai has risen to be one of Netflix’s top shows of all time and will be sorely missed by it’s beloved fans.
Despite the inevitable disappointment from fans who would love to see the series continue on, audiences can rest assured knowing that the sixth and final season will be bigger and better than all the others, as promised by the shows creators. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything we already know about the upcoming final season.
Plot
The series show runners Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg announced back in January online that not only would Cobra Kai be getting a sixth season (as nothing up to that point had been promised) but that it would be the series’ last. A teaser was then released by Netflix in the same month made up of a montage of footage from all of the prior Karate Kid films and seasons of Cobra Kai with an official announcement of the sixth and final season.
Sadly, other than that, nothing is truly known about what the plot of the sixth season will be, as the announcement was made just a few months ago. Luckily, star Ralph Macchio (who will undoubtedly be returning) has made comments that he knows what the overall story of the sixth season will be, but that nothing has been shot, nor has he seen any scripts for the episodes.
However, due to the cliffhangers that the fifth season ended on (as well as some comments from the series’ showrunners) fans have already begun to speculate and piece together what the sixth season will center around. Most theories center around Kreese escaping from prison as well as the looming possibility of a world karate tournament known as the Sekai Takai. While the concept has been teased for quite some time, series star Jacob Bertrand (who plays Hawk on the show) has expressed his interest in the concept of a world tournament and how he thinks it would be a great way to expand the universe that the show has already begun.
Cast
While no official cast list has been released, fans can breath a sigh of relief as the show runners have made it clear that all of the prior main cast members will be returning for the final season, cutting out any possibility of recasting or off-camera deaths. Such members include the obvious Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence. The two dojo masters are the core of the series, the original stars of the first film, and have always been the glue that has kept the franchise going. However, as the fifth season saw them finally set aside their differences, fans can expect to see a different dynamic between the two characters than ever before.
Additionally, the cast will still include characters such as Jacob Bertrand as Hawk, Tanner Buchanan as Robby, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel, Mary Mouser as Sam, Peyton List as Tory, Gianni Decenzo as Demetri, Courtney Henggeler as Amanda, and Vanessa Rubio as Carmen . The final season will also see the return of Martin Kove as John Kreese, Yuji Okumoto as Chozen, Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny, and Oona O’Brien as Devon. While nothing has been confirmed, it also can’t be ruled out that fans haven’t seen the last of Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver and the teased return of Alicia Hannah-Kim as Sensei Kim Da-Eun.
Everything Else
Unfortunately, due to the recent announcement, not much else is known about the final season beyond speculation. As stated, a global karate tournament has been teased for quite some time and would not only allow the show to bring in a plethora of new characters for the final season, but it would also allow them to use said new characters to continue expanding on the Miyagi-verse with future spin-offs. Not only that, but the end of season 5 saw the majority of Cobra-Kai turn on their sensei, meaning that the dojo will need some new students (which would include new cast members for new characters). Either way, despite season six being the show’s final season, it sure seems as though the creators have set up the show to have plenty of franchise material for years to come.
In terms of a release date, it can pretty much be guaranteed that season six of Cobra-Kai will premiere in 2024. Nothing is written in stone and fans could still potentially be gifted with the season before the year is up, but based on all prior patterns of the show it seems unlikely. It’s been confirmed that none of the sixth season has been filmed yet with production set to start sometime this spring. Pair that with the knowledge that both season 4 and 5 of Cobra Kai took two months to film, and since the show-runners want season 6 to be even bigger and better, one could assume that filming would also take at least two months. Take that information, combine it with the fact that both season 4 and 5 aired roughly 11-12 months after filming concluded, and voila – you’re left with a realistic airing date of summer 2024.
So, despite fans having to probably wait at least another year before they’re graced with the sixth and final season of Cobra-Kai, they can still sleep easy knowing that they’re promised at least one final goodbye. And if fans feel like a year is too much time to wait, all they have to do is remember – “peace is just a lull between battles.”