‘Cobra Kai’ Creators Open up About ‘Combustible’ Relationship Between Daniel and Johnny in Season 3 (Exclusive)

The third season of Cobra Kai will be released on Netflix Friday, and fans are wondering where the relationship between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) will go after Miguel’s injury at the end of Season 2. In a trailer for Season 3, Daniel is talking to Johnny about teaming up to make things right. However, when PopCulture.com caught up with Cobra Kai‘s creators, they said the relationship between the two rivals might not get better in Season 3.

“Daniel and Johnny are combustible,” Josh Heald, creator and executive producer of Cobra Kai, said to PopCulture. “We know that whenever we put those two guys together, it’s going to lead to some laughs because they have such diametrically opposed outlooks to the world and how they wake up in the morning and approach the day. We know it’s usually going to end in some sort of anger, frustration, or possibly a fistfight.

“As the seasons go on, we find moments that can last a little bit longer between them before things turn completely sour,” Heald continued. “Part of the intent of the beginning of Season 3 is obviously seeing can these guys work together and put aside their differences in the pursuit of fixing what is broken about the Valley right now. We wanted to present that story with honesty and not with just a blind idealism because it’s easier said than done to take two people with a history and expect them to just make nice.”

Fans tune in to Cobra Kai to see what’s going to happen between Daniel and Johnny. But one of the big reasons they continue to be invested in the story is the younger characters such as Samantha (Mary Mouser), Miguel (Xolo Mariduena), Robby (Tanner Buchanan) and Tory (Peyton List). Unlike The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai has multiple layers, making it hard to root against a certain character. And the creators have been impressed with the way the younger actors are telling the story and performing the choreography in the series.

“We’re blown away constantly by our young cast,” Cobra Kai creator and executive producer Jon Hurwitz said. “When we’re creating the show, it was important for us to have a whole new generation of characters who audiences can fall in love with the same way we fell in love with Daniel and Johnny and Ali back in the day. …Every single day that we were out in Atlanta shooting the show, we’re seeing the young cast coming in and out of our mobile dojo. It’s a competition between all of them. They want to be great. They want to put us in a position, so we’re not using our stunt doubles in the editing room as much as possible. These kids come to set every single day prepared.”