Cobra Kai Creators Look Ahead to Season 6 Plans, Talk Loose Threads

There’s plenty to unpack when it comes to the events of Cobra Kai season five. The theme for the season was, as star Thomas Ian Griffith described, “The world vs. Terry Silver,” with his plans to expand his dojo throughout the Valley and beyond. Miyagi-do’s Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his partners Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) and Eagle Fang’s Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) attempt to stop him but have no idea how calculating their enemy can be. Creators Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg, and Jon Hurwitz opened up about the fallout entering season six. The following contains major spoilers.

The first major development is Chozen somehow surviving after Terry cut him down at his fountain during their climactic fight at Terry’s home. “We thought about somebody getting gravely injured when we entered Season 5,” Heald said. “What might happen to Kreese in jail, what could happen with a Silver-Chozen clash, Silver-Daniel round 2 in the finale? We decided to take things up to the line and not cross over into people karate-murdering each other. It was something that was discussed, ‘Have we earned the right to enter that phase?’ Ultimately it felt like for this season, it pushed things past the point of no return, where it’s hard to imagine remaining invested in other elements of the story. That might’ve taken on too much of an aftermath role.”

The second is Kreese managing to fake his death and escape prison in the season finale, while Terry is arrested after his lies unraveled. “We liked the idea that for a lot of the characters, it feels like, ‘We did it. It’s over. Cobra Kai is done,'” Schlossberg said. “Meanwhile, there’s the ultimate Cobra Kai snake out there that is really pissed off at everybody right now. We’ll see if life goes on easy in Season 6 or if Kreese has something to say. Something tells me that it’s going to be the latter.

Hurwitz couldn’t reveal anything specific about the next season but did open up on the trio’s follow-up project. “We have more story to tell; we’re still figuring out the specifics of that. We’re in the midst of filming another series that we created and are showrunning called ‘Obliterated’ for Netflix, which is another passion project of ours,” he said. “The three of us have been friends since we were teenagers. When we’re making a show, we live together because it’s just easier to keep working at night. After a long day shooting ‘Obliterated,’ the talk turns to ‘Cobra Kai’ very frequently. There’s plenty in store, lots of thoughts going forward. There’s a lot we want to do with these characters, and we’re giddy about that next step.”

For more on if Johnny will train his son with Carmen (Vanessa Rubio), the inspiration for entering the international karate tournament known as Sekai Taikai, the future of Cobra Kai’s prized pupils, their Ferris Bueller spinoff, and more, you can check out the whole Variety interview here.