Cobra Kai’s Creators Talk Their Favorite Deep Cut Jokes and Wow Moments

Cobra Kai has ever been astir 2 things: telling a fantastic communicative that blends caller characters with ones from the archetypal Karate Kid movies, and being a nostalgic emotion missive to those archetypal 4 movies.

Speaking to io9 earlier the debut of Cobra Kai‘s sixth and last season, creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg told america astir their favourite deep, deep-cut Karate Kid jokes they’ve snuck into the amusement implicit the years, arsenic good arsenic a fewer of the lofty goals they dreamed astir erstwhile the amusement started and can’t judge they were capable to really achieve.

Germain Lussier, io9: You guys cognize I emotion the deep-cut Karate Kid worldly and, successful these archetypal 5 episodes of play six, determination are a few, including the 1 successful the arcade and calling Johnny a definite name. Do you guys person a favourite infinitesimal from this play oregon erstwhile ones that are specified deep-cut Karate Kid things, you had to get them successful there?

Josh Heald: I mean, the weirdest 1 that is truthful crowbarred successful determination is…

Jon Hurwitz: I knew you were gonna accidental it. [Laughs]

Heald: In the laser tag room. [Season three, occurrence five] erstwhile Cobra Kai was taking implicit the defunct laser tag determination and Mitch is wearing a backwards backpack afloat of lukewarm beers. And helium offered them beers saying “Who’s for a lukewarm one?” Which is conscionable a weird enactment successful wide from The Karate Kid erstwhile Johnny and the archetypal Cobra Kais propulsion up connected the motorcycles overlooking the formation and they’re being offered lukewarm beers, by Tommy, right? And that’s a unspeakable happening to connection somebody. “Who’s for a lukewarm one? No. No one. And we felt similar that was a cleanable gag to play wherever Hawk was like, “You brought lukewarm beers, that’s horrible. No 1 wants a lukewarm beer.” That’s astir apt my favorite, similar anserine small happening we enactment connected the show.

Hayden Schlossberg: One of my favourite uses of a callback is successful play two, occurrence six erstwhile Billy and each the Cobras are unneurotic and it’s a precise poignant episode. We purposely made it a much melodramatic occurrence and it ends with, you know, Tommy dying, and we treated it with each this gravitas and it made consciousness astatine the extremity erstwhile helium has his dormant assemblage there, they zip him up successful the assemblage bag. He was the feline who said, “Put him successful a assemblage bag.” So that was similar the cleanable operation wherever if you’re not a Karate Kid fan, it each makes consciousness and it’s truly benignant of heartfelt and sad. And if you are a Karate Kid fan, there’s similar a acheronian gag that’s happening.

“Get him a bodybag,” indeed. – Netflix

Hurwitz: That one’s my favorite. And the different one, I’ll conscionable accidental conscionable the conception of—we explained Terry Silver’s behaviour successful Karate Kid 3 with cocaine. [Laughs] Just erstwhile he’s explaining benignant of similar what was going connected backmost past and however ludicrous immoderate of the worldly you did was.

io9: So we’re nearing the extremity of Cobra Kai and I can’t adjacent ideate the whiteboard of ideas you guys had astatine the opening of like, “If we get further, we get to bash this. Mike Barnes, Terry Silver.” So I’m curious, what’s the 1 happening you truly wanted to bash astatine the opening that you’re truthful blessed with however it turned retired erstwhile you yet got to bash it?

Schlossberg: Oh wow. I can’t truly accidental due to the fact that it’s the past 5 episodes of the amusement which are the payoffs of everything that we started. And I retrieve aft play one, america talking astir play two, but truly having to fig retired wherever we were going. We started talking astir a satellite tourney years agone due to the fact that we knew that that was 1 mode to amp things up. But figuring retired wherever each the characters volition land, astatine slightest the main characters, is thing that we’ve been talking astir for a agelong time. And it was brainsick to really movie those scenes wherever you’re seeing these pivotal benignant of last moments. And you know, we’re truly excited for fans to spot that.

Up until now, I would conscionable accidental anterior to play six, it was conscionable seeing Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) taking implicit the Valley. I knew there’d beryllium a play of clip wherever there’d beryllium the darkest clip successful the Valley and Silver would get to reign arsenic king. And you get to spot what would person happened if Karate Kid 3 ended differently. And that was thing that, I think, you anticipation you get to, due to the fact that successful the archetypal mates of seasons, you ne'er cognize if the amusement volition footwear disconnected and bash good enough—because we knew that would ever beryllium thing that would person to travel precocious successful the show. We didn’t privation to propulsion Terry Silver into the premix aboriginal on. So everything involving Terry Silver and however that communicative finished was thing that you’re just, you’re thankful that you get to a play 5 to commencement telling that stuff.

Cobra Kai impermanent prima Elisabeth Shue – Netflix

Hurwitz: I deliberation everything that Hayden said I would hold with, but 1 happening that I’ll conscionable propulsion retired determination is Ali. Ali (Elisabeth Shue) showing up, that was thing that aboriginal connected we were talking astir bringing her back. As young fans of The Karate Kid, we were disappointed not to spot her aft the archetypal movie. So it was 1 of those things that we were truly determined to bash is bring her backmost into the story. And erstwhile we got to bash that, that was thing that was truly peculiar and I’ll ne'er hide those days connected set.

Cobra Kai play six portion 1 debuts Thursday, July 18, connected Netflix. Check backmost past for our reappraisal and much from the show’s creators, and catch up connected the erstwhile seasons here.