Prior pop culture works There were a few works of popular culture prior to
Cobra Kai that explored different readings of the first
Karate Kid film. In 2007, the music video for the song "
Sweep the Leg" by
No More Kings stars
William Zabka (who also directed the video) as a caricature of himself as
Johnny Lawrence, and features references to
The Karate Kid (1984), including
cameo appearances by Zabka's former co-stars. In a 2010 interview, Zabka jokingly discussed this video in the context of his vision that Johnny was the true hero of the film. Next in June 2010,
Ralph Macchio appeared in
Funny or Die's online short, "Wax On, F*ck Off", in which his loved ones stage an intervention to turn the former child star from a well-adjusted family man into an addict besieged with tabloid scandal in order to help his career (with frequent references to
The Karate Kid). A recurring joke in the sketch is that Macchio is confused for an adolescent. The short was lauded by
TV Guide's Bruce Fretts, who referred to the video as "sidesplitting" and "comic gold". Finally, in 2013, Macchio and Zabka made guest appearances as themselves in the
How I Met Your Mother episode "
The Bro Mitzvah", where Macchio is invited to
Barney Stinson's
bachelor party, leading to Barney shouting that he hates Macchio and that Johnny was the real hero of
The Karate Kid. Towards the end of the episode, a clown in the party wipes off his makeup and reveals himself as Zabka. Zabka continued to be a recurring character throughout the
ninth season of the show. The creators of
Cobra Kai commented on this episode stating that they "appreciate the parallel fandoms that this show has, whether it's the
How I Met Your Mother storyline -- which was amazing -- we get asked all the time about that YouTube video if Daniel was the real bully...all that stuff just kind of buoyed us a little bit when we were conceiving the show and comparing the storylines to
pitch the show because it made us feel confident that we weren't the only ones, and we didn't think we were, but it was nice to see other creators have
Karate Kid on the mind."
Development Pitch The creators pitched the series in 2017 to outlets that included
Netflix,
Amazon,
Hulu, and
AMC, using a mock trailer created with footage from prior works by Macchio and Zabka. The show was ultimately greenlit in August 2017 by the subscription service
YouTube Red (later YouTube Premium). The
third season was produced for YouTube and was initially set for a 2020 release, but in May 2020, the series left YouTube and moved to Netflix ahead of its third-season premiere. As YouTube was not interested in renewing the series for a fourth season, the producers wanted to find a streaming venue that would leave that option open. The show moved to Netflix in June 2020, taking the third season with them. The
third,
fourth, and
fifth seasons were released in January 2021, December 2021, and September 2022, respectively. A
fourth season was renewed, prior to season three being released, and was released on December 31, 2021. The
fifth season premiered on September 9, 2022. Production for
the sixth and final season stopped during the period of the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike and
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed after January 1, 2024. Season six was divided into three parts, each consisting of five episodes: part one was released on July 18, 2024, part two was released on November 15, 2024, and part three was released on February 13, 2025.
Casting General As the "Miyagi-verse" that shapes
Cobra Kai consists of characters who interacted with
Mr. Miyagi, With regard to
The Karate Kid animated children's show (1989), Hurwitz has stated that he doesn't consider it to be part of the Miyagi-verse canon, but an
Easter egg from it appears in season three, in response to the question about its status within
Cobra Kai. At the end of the series in 2025, Heald, Hurwitz, and Scholssberg stated that Swank would not appear as, "people have all sorts of reasons why they will or will not be participating in something, and with the timing of whatever was going on, it just was never an option." However, they also indicated that they will "have to see what might happen in this universe if we're fortunate enough to continue writing within it. She's a character that we have a lot of excitement to revisit." and
Martin Kove as
John Kreese.
Vanessa Rubio joined the cast as Miguel's mother Carmen. In season two, Macchio, Zabka, Maridueña, Mouser, Buchanan, and Henggeler all returned, with
Jacob Bertrand,
Gianni DeCenzo, and Kove being promoted to series regulars, and newcomers
Paul Walter Hauser and
Peyton List joining the cast.
The Karate Kid actors Heller,
Rob Garrison (Tommy), Ron Thomas (Bobby), and
Tony O'Dell (Jimmy) made
guest appearances during this season. In season three, Macchio, Zabka, Maridueña, Mouser, Buchanan, Henggeler, Bertrand, DeCenzo, and Kove returned. Reprising their roles from
The Karate Kid and
The Karate Kid II in guest appearances during this season were
Elisabeth Shue (
Ali Mills), Ron Thomas (Bobby),
Tamlyn Tomita (
Kumiko), Traci Toguchi (Yuna), and
Yuji Okumoto (
Chozen Toguchi). In season four, Rubio and List were promoted to series regulars, while
Dallas Dupree Young and Oona O'Brien were cast in recurring roles. while Okumoto and Heller made guest appearances. In season five, Okumoto had a recurring role as Chozen. In addition,
Sean Kanan and
Robyn Lively reprised their respective roles as
Mike Barnes and
Jessica Andrews from
Part III. Alicia Hannah-Kim also joined the cast as Kim Da-eun while Young was upgraded to a series regular. In season six, Kanan returned as Barnes, Griffith returned as Silver, William Christopher Ford reprised his role as Dennis de Guzman from
Part III, and Darryl Vidal reprised his role from
The Karate Kid. C.S. Lee was cast to portray Master Kim Sun-Yung, a character first referenced by Terry Silver in that film.
Lewis Tan,
Patrick Luwis, and
Rayna Vallandingham joined the cast in supporting roles.
Filming Principal photography for the first season began in October 2017 in
Atlanta, Georgia. Filming took place at various locations throughout that month at places including
Union City, Georgia,
Marietta, Georgia, and
the Briarcliff Campus of Emory University. In November, shooting moved to locales such as the North Atlanta Soccer Association Tophat fields in
East Cobb. In December, the production was working out of Marietta and
Conyers. Various exterior shots were also filmed in parts of
Los Angeles, California, such as
Tarzana and
Encino. Exterior locations included
Golf N' Stuff in
Norwalk and the South Seas Apartments in
Reseda, both of which were originally featured in
The Karate Kid. Principal photography for the second season began in September 2018 in Atlanta. In October, production continued around Atlanta with shooting also occurring in Marietta. In November, the series was filming in Union City. In December, shooting transpired at the closed
Rio Bravo Cantina restaurant in Atlanta. Principal photography for the fourth season began in February 2021 and ended in April in Atlanta. Filming for the fifth season began in September 2021 and finished in December. Like previous seasons, parts were filmed in Atlanta,
Marietta, Georgia, and Los Angeles. The Mexico scenes were filmed in
Puerto Rico on a two-day filming block, just like the two-day filming block of
Okinawa, Japan, and the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for the third season. ==Release==