Highlights From My Comic-Con Interview With the Cast and Creators of COBRA KAI

My first San Diego Comic-Con was crazy and exhausting and wonderful. I was lucky enough to get into Hall H, see amazing new trailers and footage, make new friends, and interview the cast of my favorite show! Last Thursday, my husband and fellow GeekTyrant writer Billy and I got to go to the roundtable interviews for the cast and creators of the hit YouTube Premium series Cobra Kai. Here are the highlights from each of the interviews, and an extra special surprise at the end.

First we got to interview writers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. We found out that all three of these writers were fans growing up of the original movies and are really excited about the new fanbase that spans multiple generations. When asked if they could give us any hints about the new season, Schlossberg simply said, “Okinawa.”

I then asked if they could give any validity to any rumors about Elisabeth Shue or the character of Terry Silvers joining the cast. Heald said, “We never give any validity to rumors, and I’ll say, in fact, we usually lie to journalists. So I’ll give you all the benefit and respect and just say we neither confirm or deny anything because we love to keep everything that may or may not be happening a surprise for as long as we can.”

I ended the interview with the burning question I’ve had for years. “Do you believe the crane kick was an illegal move?” They all quickly responded with no! Hurwitz expounded on their response by saying, “We believe that the ref was a seasoned ref. He knew karate better than any of us, and he knew the rules better than any of us. We thought it was perfectly legal and Daniel is the true champion. But, you know, we enjoy how people disagree and argue about it! It’s awesome that everyone has a different opinion about it, or we may not be here making the show if it was cut and dry.” Touché, dude.

Next up were the young cast of the show, Xolo Maridueña, who plays Miguel, Tanner Buchanan, who plays Robby, and Mary Mouser, who plays Sam. This group was so fun and sweet, and the coolest part of the interview was hearing them talk about the crazy training they underwent throughout the course of the first two seasons. When asked what scene(s) or sequences were most physically demanding, Buchanan said that the 83 second hallway shot in the final episode of the second season was the most difficult because the camera was moving around you, and you had to just keep fighting because you never knew when it would catch even a glimpse of you, and you didn’t want to be the one responsible for messing up the shot.

Maridueña said he felt the scene between he and Buchanan on the balcony was his most trying because of the whole scene resting on just the two of them to get everything right. Mouser then explained that the shoot in episode 7 inside the freezer was the most difficult shoot because the weather caused schedules to be moved around, and when she and Buchanan were told to do their fight, they explained that they hadn’t been taught the fight yet. So they were sent into the dojo to learn the fight scene directly before shooting, and it was incredibly intense!

Next up, we interviewed William Zabka, the one and only Johnny Lawrence. I asked him how he felt Johnny and Daniel would feel if the character Ali (Elisabeth Shue) came back into the picture in Season 3. He said, “That’s the one that got away. He never recovered from that loss. And as much as he genuinely is falling for Carmen, Miguel’s mom, and it’s a real, genuine thing that’s happening there, there’s something that’s really deep. So I know for Johnny that if she steps back into his life, that’s going to throw a whole bunch of conflicted emotions and feelings up, and I’m sure they’d have some conversations that mirror the past, which would bring up a whole lot of stuff. And then, you know, Daniel’s married, so it could really complicate things for him! I think the addition of Ali would be awesome. She’s a strong woman. She’s a doctor now. We could use another strong woman to help these boys.” He went on to explain that the fight scene with Kreese was the most difficult of the season, and said he does love the fact that people are rooting for him this time around. I then asked him if he would take a picture with me because he is my number one celebrity crush, and he responded, “What?! I would LOVE that! Let’s do it!” I then told him, “This is my very understanding husband taking the picture,” and he said to Billy, “Oh no! Well, I hope you get your picture with somebody cool this weekend.” I’ll add the photo below for you to check out. It’s amazing.

Last but not least, we interviewed the Karate Kid himself, a.k.a. Daniel LaRusso, Ralph Macchio. He was so gracious and fun! When talking about the next season of the series, he explained that the upcoming storyline goes into the origins of Miyagi-Do karate as well as Cobra Kai- where they began; what they mean.

We are going to learn things about both that we didn’t know. One storyline takes Daniel to Okinawa, so there is going to be some element, be it positive or negative, I don’t know this yet, some information that we all learn. Now you open up something totally new. As well as the young cast having to deal with the repercussions of season 2. Both Johnny and Daniel have to deal with, they both had good intentions in season two, even though they both operate differently. Their intentions were good, but they both failed, on paper. And now both their names, Lawrence has had this in the past, but for LaRusso, his name and Miyagi’s name, whether there’s an investigation or the school or the town board as to what happened, is all of a sudden, not positive.

So I think the stakes are pretty high. We have a lot of cleaning up to do. And I think that our goal is to meet with you guys in a couple years and still be going.” Agreed, Daniel-son, agreed. When asked about the status of his marriage going into the third season, he talked sweetly about loving the realness of his character’s marriage, as he has been married 32 years, and was looking for a real perspective on the relationship on the show. He said the business will be failing further in the upcoming season, so everything in his life will kind of have to be recalibrated. He said he believes their marriage is good at its foundation. And as far as Ali with an I, he said he is sure there would be feelings conjured up, but we will just have to wait and see.

Such an incredible opportunity! This show is so special, as I’ve been invested in these characters my whole life, and now I get to see another exciting chapter that is just as good as ever, if not better. Check out my fangirl moment below, and rewatch Seasons 1 and 2 of Cobra Kai on YouTube Premium while we wait for news of season 3!