After starting off with a humble beginning on YouTube, Cobra Kai has become a full-blown sensation after being acquired by Netflix. Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, Cobra Kai is a remarkable achievement of finding balance in a good storyline with ample nostalgia of the old Karate Kid films. Now in its fourth season, the series has significantly raised the stakes by bringing back a familiar face from The Karate Kid: Part III to fight the alliance of foes-turned-friends Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso: Terry Silver. But after the fourth season finale, the series might have set up the path for its most dangerous villain yet.
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A direct continuation of The Karate Kid films set after 34 years, Cobra Kai picks up the story when Johnny Lawrence decides to bring back Cobra Kai to teach students karate, and in his philosophy, a way of life. But his rivalry with Daniel LaRusso, now a multi-millionaire, makes things difficult to run Cobra Kai as the former All-Valley champion thinks the dojo should have stayed dead. Interestingly, John Kreese also returns back to aid his former student in taking Cobra Kai to its former glory, despite Johnny’s skepticism. As predicted, Kreese’s diabolical personality throws Lawrence out of the dojo, and instead brings back Terry Silver. While Johnny and Daniel fail to join forces due to too many differences, Silver emphasizes the third rule of Cobra Kai: No Mercy.
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In the fourth season finale, Terry Silver sets up John Kreese for assault by making Raymond ‘Stingray’ accuse Kreese instead of Silver after getting a severe beatdown from the latter to become a part of Cobra Kai. However, with Kreese gone, Silver might be needing a former Cobra Kai member to continue the teachings and it might be another familiar face from The Karate Kid: Part III. Yes, the show just paved the path for Mike Barnes as its next major antagonist.
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Throughout the series, the showrunners have expertly managed to plug-in an adequate amount of nostalgia, even from the much-maligned The Karate Kid: Part III quite successfully in the latest season. After introducing Terry Silvers from the third movie, the introduction of Mike Barnes seems quite plausible as the plot sets on a much darker path of domination and vengeance. In the movie, Mike Barnes was arguably the toughest opponent Daniel LaRusso faced, even posing a much greater threat than Johnny Lawrence and Chozen, who interestingly have joined forces with Daniel LaRusso to take down Cobra Kai once and for all. Nicknamed as ‘Karate’s Bad Boy’, the return of Mike Barnes will surely be exciting with much higher stakes at play for the upcoming fifth season. With Terry Silvers now at the helm of the dojo, the fierce and ruthless Barnes will be more than a handful for LaRusso, Lawrence, and Chozen to handle.
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Cobra Kai is now streaming on Netflix.
