COBRA KAI Co-Creator Explains How the Series Continues to Honor the KARATE KID Franchise While Further Developing the Show

Fans of Cobra Kai are well aware that the show’s creators – Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald – have made a series for the fandom. The trio are fans of the films themselves, and they’ve stayed so true to the content, it’s really been fun to see the world expand with the new cast integrated with the old.

In a recent interview at Variety's Night in the Writers' Room event, co-creator Hayden Schlossberg explained how the series continues to honor The Karate Kid while telling its own story. He explained:

"It's fun, you expand the universe. You have new characters and with new characters new perspective, new backgrounds, and so that brings the modern element to it. But we start out with, 'Hey, remember the roots.' The Bonsai tree grows and you get to explore different types of characters in a TV series that you wouldn't in a movie. But the roots are bullying, mentors, it's overcoming things, it's dealing with the past. It's that visceral feeling of feeling weak and then somebody gives you something. On this show it's karate, but in life it can be a million different things that change you and give you confidence. And so each season, by each season finale there's some crazy thing that's happening."

"It gets to 'the soul of the Valley is dependent on who wins this nunchuck fight.' But at the core of it is what I fell in love with with The Karate Kid, why it's a classic. The different cultures meeting, people you wouldn't expect to be connecting, connecting. Every year we're like, 'Okay, let's forget everything for a second and go back to The Karate Kid. Why do we love this?' We watch the movie again. And that's why I think it's worked on a global level, because they're universal stories. So we try to focus on that, while taking advantage of different characters, genders, backgrounds and play things out so it feels like The Karate Kid but it's something totally different."

The stars really aligned for Cobra Kai. It’s such a smart, fun series with so much heart. I have loved every season, and can’t wait to see where it goes. Season 5 of Cobra Kai will be released on Netflix on September 9th.