Thomas Ian Griffith Talks About Returning to the Role of Terry Silver in COBRA KAI

Fans are counting down the days to the release of the fourth season of Cobra Kai on Netflix. The third season ended with the promise of an epic showdown between Cobra Kai, now being run by John Kreese, and Daniel LaRusso’s Miyagi Do dojo, which has teamed up Johnny Lawrence’s newly established Eagle Fang. The final scene in the season also revealed that John Kreese has put in a call to an old friend, his Vietnam War comrade, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who we haven’t seen since The Karate Kid Part III.

As for what fans can expect from the character’s return, Griffith sat down with Entertainment Weekly to give us a tease about what’s to come. Griffith said that he watched Cobra Kai when it came out, and he found it quite charming, but its charm was the reason he believed that his maniacal character Terry Silver would never fit in with the updated series. But after an hourlong conversation with creators and executive producers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, Griffith said:

"They answered the question that I had: What has this guy been up to for the last 30 years?"

It helped that his wife and two kids had watched the series and told him he absolutely had to take the part. He went on to talk about the foundation that was laid for his character within the Season 3 story, saying:

Well, the beauty is in season 3 I thought they did such a great job setting up the backstory with the whole Vietnam thing. Then they brought that into season 4. All the questions I had about what that relationship would be about got answered. I think it's going to be a really nice surprise for the audience, and fulfilling for them as well. Terry's been living a very full life, and he brings that to this Cobra Kai world — some of it will be for good, and some of it not so good. I think he's going to cause a little trouble.

As for how he is bringing the over-the-top character of Terry Silver into the modern day story, Griffith said:

I really have no interest in repeating anything. So how do we round out a guy like that? How do we get back to what made this guy tick? What drove him inside and what would make him come back into this world? The [Cobra Kai] creators had really thought that out. With [Karate Kid Part III director] John Alvidsen, I'd be like, "This is a little over the top." And he was like, "I want every little kid in America kicking you in the shins." He just gave me free rein to run with it.

[Something] I think we've kept alive with Terry [on Cobra Kai] is bringing back that glee he has. He actually enjoys this — he's this billionaire who will have all this going on and [still] go back to the small little world of a karate tournament in the Valley. It's so absurd that it's fantastic!

I got to watch the fourth season of the series, and it really in fantastic! The whole season builds to an incredible final two episodes, and every character has such a great story arc that builds on what we know, and points toward a great fifth season.

Cobra Kai Season 4 premieres Dec. 31 on Netflix, and Season 5 is currently shooting.