After months of waiting, Cobra Kai Season 3 finally dropped on Netflix on New Year’s Day, and fans are stoked! But as the martial arts soap opera series increases in its popularity among viewers, the beloved ’80s franchise is also throwing it back ever so slightly and tastefully to its roots with the original movies, The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II. Starring Ralph Macchio, William Zabka and Martin Kove, Cobra Kai has taken fans for a ride ever since its premiere in 2018 on YouTube Red and with the series now on Netflix, there is so much more to look forward to with the essence of the film making its way onto the small screen with several elements.
With the latest season finding everyone reeling in the aftermath of the unmerciful high school brawl between the Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) is left in a precarious condition, while Robby (Tanner Buchanan) is nowhere to be found. As Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) searches for answers and Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) seeks redemption, Martin Kreese (Kove) continues gaslighting the vulnerable students with his vision of dominance, leaving the Valley’s soul at stake and every student and sensei’s fate in the balance.
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Among the action sequences, writing, storyline, performances and throwback tunes, Cobra Kai also brought out some of its major characters from The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II. Scroll through to see who is making it back to the realm of Daniel and Johnny — but you are forewarned, spoilers are ahead!
Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita)
Kumiko played by Tamlyn Tomita, featured in The Karate Kid Part II as Daniel LaRusso’s second girlfriend pops up in the fourth episode, “The Right Path.” As Daniel works to clean up his tarnished public image following the events of Season 2’s finale, he decides to visit Okinawa, Japan as a way to save the LaRusso Auto Group after his rival signed an exclusive deal with Doyona International in Tokyo — the sole distributor of all the major Japanese car companies. During his visit to Japan, Daniel crosses paths with Kumiko and the two reminisce about the past, where she reveals she returned from London to care for Aunt Yukie (Mr. Miyagi’s former girlfriend) who died, and never got married, joking how “none of them fought to the death” for her. Through their conversations, Kumiko ends up helping Daniel out, which leads to the next guest Karate Kid star on the series.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Tomita says the reunion will answer a lot of questions for fans. “[They] will be happy as to where [the characters] find themselves and the kind of discussions they have. I think fans will be pleased. I just hope with all the hope in my heart that we all did a good job,” she said.
Tomita, who stars on The Good Doctor adds it was so much fun to reconnect with Macchio decades later too. “Oh my God. It was like slipping on a favorite pair of socks, or a beloved pair of shoes that still fit, that still are comfortable, and they still look good,” she said. “That’s the important part. It was so easy, and we were just laughing, like, ‘Was it really 35 years ago? Has it been that long?’ Because it just feels like yesterday.”
Chozen (Yuji Okumoto)
“Live or die, man?” The Cobra Kai showdown for the ages is finally here with Chozen Toguchi, the main villain of The Karate Kid Part II and sensei of Sato’s Dojo played by Yuji Okumoto, returning to the series’ franchise at the end of Episode 4, “The Right Path.” While Chozen hasn’t appeared in the first two seasons of Cobra Kai, Season 2 involved a flashback of Daniel breaking the ice during his visit to Japan, with Chozen watching in shock and dismay. However, Season 3 changes all of that with Daniel’s rival returns after Kumiko helps Daniel find the answers he needs — inviting Chozen to reconnect with him in Episode 5, “Miyagi-Do.”
When Daniel visits Okinawa with Mr. Miyagi in the 1986 movie, Chozen has an immediate disdain for Daniel and his sensei. Like, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Chozen is portrayed as a bully and rival to Daniel, tormenting and attacking him every chance they get. However, unlike Johnny, Chozen is a lot more involved in hand-to-hand combat and almost tries to kill Daniel and Kumiko at the end of the movie.
With his character taking a bit of a spin in Season 3, Okumoto tells EW he had family and friends asking him if he’d be on the show for a long time. Though he had to be “careful” with his words after signing on thanks to the showrunners fitting him into a redeeming arc of sorts, he humbly shares how much of an honor it is to return to the Karate Kid universe. “I wrote [Chozen’s] backstory and history,” he said. “It’s funny, because when the Cobra Kai people came to me, I actually had all this stuff still recorded, and I had a nice discussion and gave them my input about what had happened to him possibly after the final showdown with him and Daniel. I never forgot about Chozen, because he was a big part of my life.”
Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue)
In the penultimate episode of Cobra Kai’s third season (“Feel the Night”), Ali Mills Schwarber (Elisabeth Shue) makes her grand entrance, spending time with ex-flame, Johnny Lawrence. The two not only share an adorable scene at lunch while reminiscing over good times but they also share some tender moments. Finally, in the season finale episode, “December 19,” she marks her return to The Karate Kid universe by renting with Johnny and Daniel LaRusso.
Ali, who was originally the girlfriend of Johnny but then became the main love interest for Daniel, has appeared in flashbacks throughout Cobra Kai. Still, but Season 3 provided the real deal for fans. Throughout the series, fans can see their breakup has affected Johnny greatly as he viewed their relationship as the one good thing in his life aside from his mother. In Season 1, fans learn from Daniel that Ali got married and lives in Denver as a pediatric surgeon, with Daniel confessing to his daughter, Sam, he was truly in love with her. While his daughter tries to inquire further, he diverts her attention to his relationship with Kumiko. However, in Season 3, fans find out Ali was married but is now in the middle of a divorce.
In 2019, William Zabka told PopCulture.com that while there was “no secret” about talk surrounding her return to the universe after Season 2, he shared she had been “approached” at the time and there were “a couple [of] spots with her” to film. But while Zabka’s character Johnny is now starting something with Carmen, Miguel’s mom, he shared at the time how he was “rooting for Ali with Johnny.”
“She’s been a huge part of Johnny, she’s a big part of The Karate Kid, [Elisabeth’s] a wonderful actress, and she’d be a great addition to the show, so I’m rooting for it, but I’m in the dark at this moment,” Zabka said, sharing how she was the one who got away. “No one has ever filled that part of his heart again, so it would be really exciting to see what happens when the two come together. But again, I think it’s going to be something, if it happens, that is completely unexpected and you could never predict it… but wonderful.”
Kreese’s Vietnam friend from the past…
Season 3 of Cobra Kai opens the doors for Season 4, especially within the realm of John Kreese’s past and a mysterious friend who might be someone very important among the antagonists in the Karate Kid universe. Is Terry Silver returning?
As noted by PopCulture.com writer, Brian Jones, this past season featured several flashbacks to a younger Kreese (Martin Kove) who fought in Vietnam. But it was only in the Season 3 finale that fans get a somewhat hint of a yesteryear character possibly entering the arena as the new Cobra Kai leader is seen holding a photo of himself while with some buddies from his time in Vietnam, ultimately calling up one in particular for a favor who revealed he owed his life to the deeply disturbed “no mercy” sensei.
In an interview with Collider this past September, Kove talked about the possibility of actor Terry Ian Griffith reprising his as the vicious Silver. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know the answer to that question totally. So we’ll keep it the undercurrent of the interview, you know? I really don’t even know the answer!”
It would be logical for Silver to be the mysterious friend from Vietnam since there hasn’t been anyone else from The Karate Kid Part III to make an appearance on Cobra Kai other than Daniel and Kreese just yet. But fans will have to wait…
