Cobra Kai is the gift that keeps on giving. Less than a year after the season 4 premiere, Cobra Kai season 5 will be dropping on September 9. The show’s fandom has continued to grow since its 2018 debut on YouTube Red. Since Netflix picked up the show, Cobra Kai’s grip on its fans has gotten even stronger. No mercy!
Cobra Kai just keeps getting better, too. Season 4 had the highest Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any season so far and had 120 million hours viewed in the first 3 days of its release. Needless to say, the expectations for season 5 are very high. From the release date to the cast to the show’s future beyond season 5, HollywoodLife has rounded up everything you need to know about the fifth season.
Release Date: When Is Cobra Kai Season 5 Coming Out?
Cobra Kai season 5 will be released globally on September 9, only on Netflix. The first teaser and the release date were revealed during Cobra Kai: Live & Bad Ass event at the Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival event in May 2022.
The new season will consist of 10 episodes and be available all at once. Season 5 was confirmed back in August 2021, months ahead of the season 4 premiere.
Production got underway for season 5 in September 2021 and took place in Atlanta. Filming officially wrapped just a few months later in December 2021. Cobra Kai’s co-creator Jon Hurwitz confirmed that season 5 finished filming via Twitter.
Who Is In The Cast For Season 5?
The Cobra Kai ensemble is going to remain intact. All of the key Cobra Kai characters will be back for season 5: Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso, Jacob Bertrand as Hawk, Gianni Decenzo as Demetri, Vanessa Rubio as Carmen, Peyton List as Tory, and Martin Kove as John Kreese, with Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny, Joe Seo as Kyler, Oona O’Brien as Devon, Griffin Santopietro as Anthony, Yuji Okumoto as Chozen, and Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver.
Cobra Kai continues to give off major throwback vibes. Sean Kanan will reprise the role of Mike Barnes in season 5. Mike was one of Daniel’s antagonists in The Karate Kid Part III.
Alicia Hannah-Kim has joined the cast as Kim Da-Eun, a South Korean sensei who Terry Silver enlists in helping expand Cobra Kai’s dojos. There’s been speculation that Annais Rojas has joined the cast, but there are no confirmed details from Netflix about her role. In January 2022, Annais posted photos with the cast and wrote on Instagram (via Google Translate): “Grateful for experiences like this. Filming in Cobra Kai season 5 was an opportunity that I had together with people with common visions.”
On top of the main Karate Kid stars in Cobra Kai, the Netflix show has been filled with epic appearances from so many other characters from the beloved film trilogy. Hilary Swank, a.k.a. Julie Pierce, is a name that continues to be brought up.
“Anything is possible. I always say if you’re a fan of The Next Karate Kid and you want to see Julie Pierce who Hilary Swank played, we’re the show to watch to see if that happens. Season 5 is going to be coming out. It’s in the can. Anything is possible. Julie Pierce is one of the toys in the toy chest so we’ll see,” Hayden told Deadline.
What Will Happen in Season 5?
Netflix’s synopsis for Cobra Kai season 5 reads: “Following the shocking results of the All Valley Tournament, season 5 finds Terry Silver expanding the Cobra Kai empire and trying to make his ‘No Mercy’ style of karate the only game in town. With Kreese behind bars and Johnny Lawrence setting karate aside to focus on repairing the damage he’s caused, Daniel LaRusso must call on an old friend for help.”
Co-creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg also told Netflix, “As Terry Silver calls upon some old friends to put the Valley in a stranglehold, Daniel and Johnny are going to need all the help they can get to stop Cobra Kai in its tracks.”
Jon teased to Deadline that there will be “a lot of insanity” in season 5. “If you’re a fan of the franchise, maybe some familiar faces show up, maybe not; there’s going to be a lot of karate,” he added.
Josh noted that “the bad guys won in season 4, so there’s going to be some hell to pay, whether there’s more hellfire or retribution… There’s lot of people punching each other, kicking other, but the story is going to go in a new way that no one can possibly predict.”
Thomas Ian Griffith told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that fans will not be “disappointed” by who returns in season 5. He also noted that Silver’s “unpredictability” makes him “dangerous.”
Hayden revealed that he was thrilled for fans to meet the members of the Fist in season 5. “Looking forward to you all meeting Kim Da-Eun and the other members of the Fist. This is what happens when you let karate wars escalate,” he tweeted.
Tanner Buchanan revealed in our EXCLUSIVE interview that he would love to see more Tory and Robby romance action in season 5. “I think they have a great relationship. Their connection is amazing. They build each other up. If they can make something more, that would be nice to see,” he told HollywoodLife.
Season 4 ended in dramatic fashion at the All-Valley tournament. After Miguel’s abrupt departure during the tournament, Hawk went on to face Robby in the final round. Miguel took off to search for his father. After a tense battle, Hawk triumphed over Robby and became the boys’ champion.
Tory and Sam faced off in the girls’ championship. It was a valiant fight on both sides, but Tory was declared the winner. This meant that Cobra Kai won the All-Valley, but there was something rotten in the Valley. Tory later discovered that Silver had paid off the referee for her match-up.
The final moments of season 4 hinted at a possible reconciliation for Johnny and Robby, Kreese getting arrested after being framed by Silver for the attack on Stingray, and the return of Chozen. Daniel visited Mr. Miyagi’s grave to discuss his plans in the wake of the All-Valley loss. He asked Chozen to help him put an end to Cobra Kai once and for all. Chozen happily agreed.
The Cobra Kai season 5 trailer gave a glimpse at all the action that’s ahead in the upcoming season. Silver is going full-steam ahead on his plans to expand Cobra Kai. Miguel’s journey to find his father is a short one because he’s still heavily a part of season 5. There will be a long-awaited rematch between Miguel and Robby. Daniel, Johnny, and Chozen are going to have to get their hands a little dirty (and likely a little bloody) to go head-to-head with Silver. “If you continue down this path, nothing in your life will ever be the same again,” Terry warns Daniel.
Will There Be More Seasons?
Cobra Kai season 6 has not officially gotten the green light from Netflix yet. However, the showrunners hope to keep the show going beyond season 5. When asked by a fan if he was “close to the end of Cobra Kai,” showrunner Jon Hurwitz responded, “All I can say is that we expect more Cobra Kai to come and that the Miyagiverse is far from finished.”
Another fan tweeted at Jon and said that he “previously mentioned that there’ll be 6 seasons of Cobra Kai.” The fan wanted to know if there would be more than 6 seasons. Jon tweeted back, “We were misquoted in saying there would be 6 seasons. We’ve often said that we hoped there would be at least 6 seasons. But we’ll see.”
Hayden revealed to Deadline that the Cobra Kai creative team already has “an end in mind. How many seasons it takes to get there, we don’t know. We’re enjoying making it so much.” He added, “If it gets tiring to us, we’ll stop before that. We have a few more seasons already planned out.”
Given Cobra Kai’s continued success on Netflix, it shouldn’t be long before the streaming service makes a decision about the show’s future. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.