Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. The series was released on YouTube Red / YouTube Premium for the first two seasons, before moving to Netflix starting with the third. The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence from the 1984 film The Karate Kid and its sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989).

The first and second seasons launched on YouTube Red/Premium in May 2018 and April 2019. Netflix acquired the series in June 2020 after YouTube decided to stop producing scripted original programming. The third, fourth and fifth seasons were released in January 2021, December 2021, and September 2022, respectively. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a sixth and final season.

Cobra Kai begins in the fall of 2017, and re-examines the “Miyagi-verse” narrative from Johnny’s point of view, beginning with his decision to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo, and the rekindling of his old rivalry with Daniel. Cobra Kai also stars Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio and Dallas Dupree Young, with Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith also reprising their roles from the films.

The series attained high viewership on both YouTube and Netflix, and has received critical acclaim for its writing, performances, action sequences, humor, character development, and homage to the previous films. It has received numerous awards and nominations, with the third season being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

After a down-and-out Johnny using karate to defend his new teenage neighbor Miguel Diaz from a group of bullies, he agrees to teach Miguel karate and opens the Cobra Kai karate dojo as a chance to recapture his past. The revived Cobra Kai attracts a group of bullied social outcasts who find camaraderie and self-confidence under his tutelage. Johnny develops a bond with Miguel in a manner that resembles the relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Cobra Kai’s philosophy, however, remains mostly unchanged, though Johnny tries to infuse it with more honor than Kreese did. On the other hand, the reopening of Cobra Kai revives Johnny’s rivalry with Daniel, who vows to bring down the dojo. Robby gets a job at Daniel’s car dealership as revenge against his father. Daniel forms a mentorship with Robby and begins teaching him the style of karate he learned from Mr. Miyagi. Later, Robby develops a rivalry with Miguel reminiscent of the rivalry between Daniel and Johnny.

Following Cobra Kai’s victory at the 2018 All-Valley Karate Tournament, John Kreese returns to Cobra Kai, leading to tension between himself as Johnny. Meanwhile, Daniel reopens the Miyagi-Do dojo with Robby and Sam as his first students in response to Cobra Kai’s success, sparking a massive rivalry between the two dojos. Johnny decides to let Kreese teach in his dojo, despite Daniel, Bobby, Tommy, and Jimmy’s doubts about his decision. On the other hand, Sam develops a rivalry with new Cobra Kai student Tory Nichols. After a brutal school brawl on the first day of school, Kreese seizes control of the Cobra Kai dojo and kicks Johnny out.

The third and fourth seasons follows as Johnny forms the new dojo Eagle Fang with Miguel and other students who were expelled by Kreese, later partnering up with Daniel as a means of combating the new Cobra Kai under Kreese. The third season also showcases the return of Ali (from The Karate Kid), as well as Chozen and Kumiko (from The Karate Kid Part II). However, in response, Kreese brings back his old friend and Cobra Kai co-founder Terry Silver (from The Karate Kid Part III), who proves to be a more dangerous and insidious enemy than Kreese himself. The three dojos make an agreement to decide which dojo stays by competing at the next All-Valley Karate Tournament, despite tensions between both Daniel and Johnny and Kreese and Silver.

The fifth season continues Daniel and Johnny’s efforts, with help from Chozen to bring down Cobra Kai, which is now run by Silver (following a cheated victory at the 2019 All-Valley Karate Tournament and Kreese being framed by him for attempted murder) and later joined by fellow sensei Kim Da-Eun, a descendant of the original Cobra Kai philosophy. Daniel’s former rival Mike Barnes and Amanda’s cousin Jessica Andrews (both from The Karate Kid Part III) return in this season.