It's not over until it's over.
34 years after the original Karate Kid came out (can you believe it’s been that long?) and YouTube Red has dropped the first teaser trailer for the long-awaited TV series sequel, Cobra Kai.
Named after the infamous dojo, Cobra Kai takes place 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, in which Daniel (Ralph Macchio) beat Johnny (William Zabka).
Now, they’re about to go head-to-head once again. Johnny has been down-and-out the past few years, while his rival has been living a near-perfect life as a car dealer and family man. Looking for a way to regain his purpose and mojo, Johnny then decides to reopen the old dojo.
Daniel isn’t thrilled about this, as he no longer has his mentor — Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita, who passed away in 2005) — to guide him. “I just don’t know why you’d ever want to bring back Cobra Kai,” Macchio says in the trailer, only until he later admits the battle between Johnny hasn’t reached its conclusion yet.
Cobra Kai will also star Xolo Maridueña as Miguel; a young pupil who trains under Johnny, Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keen; who’s Johnny’s distant son and Courtney Henggeler as Amanda Larusso; Daniel’s wife.
The series is being written and executive produced by Josh Heald (Hot Tub Time Machine), John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (Harold and Kumar), with Hurwitz and Schlossberg also directing much of the series. Will Smith (whose son starred in the 2010 Karate Kid reboot which apparently is no longer canon), James Lassiter and Caleb Pinkett will also be executive producing with Sony Pictures Television Studios’ Overbook Entertainment, as will Susan Ekins.
The series will be released exclusively to YouTube Red later this year, with no exact date yet given. Watch the trailer here and let us know what you think about Cobra Kai in the comments below.