Cobra Kai Season 3 set for New Year’s Day release
David Farnor | On 26, Dec 2020
Cobra Kai Season 3 just took a flying kick closer to our screens, with the series’ return date jumping forward to New Year’s Day.
The series takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Season 3 sees everyone reeling in the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between their dojos, which has left Miguel in a precarious condition. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance. The soul of the Valley is at stake, and the fate of every student and sensei hangs in the balance.
Originally set to debut on Netflix on 8th January, the streaming giant has now confirmed that it’ll be arriving one week earlier, with all episodes dropping on 1st January 2021 – a promising way to ring in the first day of a year that will hopefully be a big improvement on 2020.
Read on below for the trailer.
Watch: Full trailer for Cobra Kai Season 3
9th December 2020
“I thought I was doing the right thing…” That’s the sound of Cobra Kai returning to Netflix, and a new trailer gives us a full look at the show’s third bout.
The series takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Season 3 sees everyone reeling in the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between their dojos, which has left Miguel in a precarious condition. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance. The soul of the Valley is at stake, and the fate of every student and sensei hangs in the balance.
Season 3 kicks off the new year with a worldwide release date of 8th January. Here’s the trailer:
First look: New images for Cobra Kai Season 3
7th December 2020
The first images for Season 3 of Cobra Kai have landed, give us a closer glimpse of what’s in store for the Karate Kid sequel.
Cobra Kai is written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and, after premiering on YouTube as a YouTube Original, has moved to Netflix for a third season.
It takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Season Three 3 everyone reeling in the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between their dojos, which has left Miguel in a precarious condition. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance. The soul of the Valley is at stake, and the fate of every student and sensei hangs in the balance.
Season 3 will premiere on Netflix on 8th January 2021. Here are the images:
Teaser: Cobra Kai Season 3 hits Netflix in January
2nd October 2020
Cobra Kai will officially land on Netflix in January 2021, and a new teaser gives us a look at the show’s return.
The series, a sequel to The Karate Kid, sees Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their roles from the 1980s sports classic as arch-rivals Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence – along with Martin Kove as sensei John Kreese. Several decades older, with the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament a distant memory, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) lives with his beautiful family, while running a successful string of car dealerships, and Lawrence (William Zabka), whose life has taken a rocky turn, seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo, promising to teach local kids how to fight with “a method of fighting your pansy-ass generation desperately needs”.
Written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the show proved the biggest success of YouTube’s original productions to date after its debut. It has since headed to Netflix for its third season, which picks up after Season 2’s brutal climax. That cliffhanger saw the two rival high school dojos clashed with serious end results – leaving Daniel questioning everything and Johnny hoping for redemption.
Season 3 will premiere on Netflix on 8th January 2021.
Here’s the teaser:
Cobra Kai heads to Netflix for Season 3
22nd June 2020
Netflix has picked up Cobra Kai ahead of its third season.
The series, a sequel to The Karate Kid, sees Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their roles from the 1980s sports classic as arch-rivals Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence – along with Martin Kove as sensei John Kreese. Several decades older, with the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament a distant memory, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) lives with his beautiful family, while running a successful string of car dealerships, and Lawrence (William Zabka), whose life has taken a rocky turn, seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo, promising to teach local kids how to fight with “a method of fighting your pansy-ass generation desperately needs”.
Written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the show proved the biggest success of YouTube’s original productions to date after its debut.
“This endearingly nostalgic follow-up to The Karate Kid delivers an entertaining punch,” we wrote in our review of Season 1, which also praised the cast for their portrayals of the grown-up characters.
While YouTube Premium had already renewed the show for a third season, however, the video giant is looking to wind down its scripted originals in favour of reality series with celebrities and unscripted shows featuring high-profile creators. Indeed, YouTube’s recent Dear Class of 2020 graduation event was its biggest live-streamed event yet.
And so, while other YouTube originals have been cancelled, Cobra Kai is instead making the move to Netflix.
Under the terms of the deal, the first two seasons of Sony Pictures Television’s Cobra Kai will premiere on Netflix later this year, with the third season to follow.
Heald, Hurwitz and Schlossberg said: “Making Cobra Kai has been a dream come true for us since day one. We are thankful for the tireless dedication of Jeff Frost, Chris Parnell, Jason Clodfelter, Karen Tatevosian, and all our partners at Sony for finding us a new home where we can not only continue the series, but also explore opportunities to further expand The Karate Kid universe. We are beyond excited to join our new partners at Netflix and look forward to the show reaching the massive global audience who loves this franchise as much as we do.”
Brian Wright, Vice President of Original Series at Netflix, added: “The appeal of The Karate Kid saga is timeless, and Cobra Kai picks up right where it left off without missing a beat. The rivalry between Daniel and Johnny is one for the ages, and the show has a ton of heart and is a lot of fun. We can’t wait to introduce a new generation of fans to Cobra Kai and are thrilled to be its new home around the world.”
Jeff Frost, President of Sony Pictures Television, commented: “We are so proud of Cobra Kai and are overwhelmed by the massive fan response to the series. Josh, Jon, Hayden, Ralph, William and the entire cast have done such a brilliant job with this sensational series and the huge audience reaction and sentiment for it is a testament to that. We are very thankful to our partners at Netflix and couldn’t be more elated that they have become the new home for this epic saga.”
YouTube renews Cobra Kai for Season 3
12th May 2019
YouTube has officially renewed Cobra Kai for a third season.
The series, which is inspired by the 1980s sports classic, sees Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their roles as arch-rivals Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Several decades older, with the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament a distant memory, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) lives with his beautiful family, while running a successful string of car dealerships, and Lawrence (William Zabka), whose life has taken a rocky turn, seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo, promising to teach local kids how to fight with “a method of fighting your pansy-ass generation desperately needs”.
Written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the show has been the biggest success of YouTube’s original productions to date, with its first episode racking up over 55 million views since its debut last year. The series returned for a second season last month on YouTube, at a time when YouTube has cancelled several of its other expensive originals, including sci-fi series Origin. Its opening episode has already racked up over 29 million views.
“This endearingly nostalgic follow-up to The Karate Kid delivers an entertaining punch,” we wrote in our review of Season 1, which also praised the cast for their portrayals of the grown-up characters.
Season 2 picked up after the Under 18 All Valley Karate Championships at the end of Season 1, as Johnny questions his dojo’s philosophy and deals with a figure from his past: Martin Kove, reprising his role as Johnny’s mentor, John Kreese. Daniel, meanwhile, searches for the right way to respond to Cobra Kai’s dominance – will the past get in the way of what really matters? Returning cast members from Season 1 included Xolo Mariduena as Miguel, Diaz Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso and Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso.
Now, within weeks of its sophomore debut, YouTube has announced its going in for a third round. Variety first broke the news at the start of the month, but this weekend saw YouTube confirm the renewal officially, with a video announcing that the battle between the two old enemies has only just begun.
The renewal comes as YouTube looks to move its original programmes, including Cobra Kai, out from behind the Premium subscription paywall so that it’s free to watch with adverts to all users. In the meantime, you can stream Season 1 and 2 of Cobra Kai on YouTube Premium, as part of a £11.99 monthly subscription. Season 3 will air in 2020.