‘Cobra Kai never dies’: The creators of saying goodbye, for now

Josh Head, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the creators of the karate-centered Netflix series “Cobra Kai”, cannot agree which of them would win in a match.

“I want to tell me,” Hurwitz said.

HEAD contested this. “I’m taking Muay Thai right now,” he said. “But I think Hayden would be the most creative. He would do something dirty. “

“I dop their water bottles,” Schlossberg said. He also mentioned extortion.

Fortunately, in their years spent making “Cobra Kai”, which just ended his sixth and last season, they have never come to actual blows. Or crane kick. Hurwitz and Schlossberg, the authors of the films “Harold and Kumar”, met (as all cool kids do) in the High School Debate Club in the 1990s. HEAD, a writer of the movies “Hot Tub Time Machine”, became friends with Hurwitz a few years later, as a college sauce room. Once all three had been introduced, they tied over a shared occupation: “Karate Kid” movies.

“Our” Star Wars, “Heal said.

The movie “The Karate Kid” of 1984, put in the San Fernando Valley, culminated with a championship match between Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio), the bullied child of a single mother and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Bully. Two successors were quickly released. An animated series and a couple of reboots – one starring in Hilary Swank and another with Jayden Smith – followed. Had the franchise been tapping out?

HEAD, HURWITZ and Schlossberg didn’t think so. They had hidden “Karate Kid” Easter eggs in almost all of their films, and for years they had talked about writing a Johnny Lawrence movie. But that was only talk. They had no hope of getting that movie Greenlighted.

Then in 2016, after witnessing the emergence of streaming and the success of the 1980s, nostalgia as “Stranger Things” and “Fuller House”, they re -arranged their pitch and reintroduced the film as a series.

They convinced Zabka to log in over a chips-and-Salsa lunch in the valley. Then they flew to New York to persuade Macchio. Sony Pictures Television agreed to produce, and the series was snapped up to YouTube’s page-abandoned original programming ventil, debut in 2018 (it moved to Netflix before season 3.) Over the years the series has supported the return of most of the The characters from the original films and raised a new generation of practitioners training on the rival Dojos Daniel and Johnny Operate.

But no karate fight can last forever. And on Thursday, “Cobra Kai” Published its last five episodes culminating with Sekai Takai, an invented international tournament that occasionally develops into a free-for-all brawl. (“Karate Kid” Superfans don’t have to make a long time: The franchise continues later in the year with the movie “Karate Kid: Legends, ” written by another writer.)

On a video ring a few weeks before the last episodes were released, the creators discussed Legacy, Lost Teeth and the lessons of “Cobra Kai.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Do you know any karate?

Jon Hurwitz Every season our stunt team comes to us and says, “Hello, stop in dojo, then we will teach you a few things.” But we’re always just so busy doing the show. Every season, without failure, it’s like “nope, didn’t learn any karate.”

The franchise “Karate Kid” seemed exhausted. What made you think there was still gas in that IP tank?

Josh Head As we got to know each other in the late 90s, we revised the movies that we loved as children. We started talking about as if, can you imagine what it must have been like after Johnny Lawrence is kicked in the head? It must have been the most awful second half of a senior year. There was tragedy in there. Also comedy. It was precisely this fever dream. But the golden age of streaming really changed everything. A serialized story didn’t have to be one and a half hours long or two hours long. You could have a serialized story that could mix genres and play out over a whole season.

Hayden Schlossberg And we were put on this earth to bring back William Zabka.

You start making the series. What was it like to play in the world you had loved since childhood?

HEAD The first season was the hardest that any of us three have ever worked with the least amount of sleep. It felt like one of us was awake at all times, always writing, always prepping. But every day was this new gift that you would unpack. It was literally the experience of being able to step into a movie universe and control things that have always felt attached and now you can treat them as action figures.

Who decided this would be the last season?

Hurwitz When we made season 5, we felt like, ok, we start winning down. So we started having that conversation with Netflix and Sony and said, “Fifteen episodes feel the right amount.” This audience should have a proper ending to their series.

Why end it now?

Schlossberg Each season we took this “stoned” approach to: Let’s build for a larger event. In Season 6 we had this World Guard. Where do you go from a World Sciences? To the room? Hear, we love this world and we think of spinoffs and all these things. But this one had to quit.

Hurwitz Emotionally this season is the biggest yet. People have loved these characters since 1984. These last five episodes are the culmination of these stories. So there’s a weight on these last episodes.

Is there a real world similar to Sekai Takai?

HEAD There are World Karate tournaments and some of the actors this season they compete in them. It’s not as bloody as we do. There are various protections in place to make sure people do not lose teeth and life.

Do you ever get bored with writing all these karate tournaments?

Schlossberg We have to get into it. If we feel it is wrong, we know the audience will feel it. When we write these matches there is a bit of: OK, how many different ways can you fight for? One of the things we did this season was to open the structure of a match. Now we have different team events. We have to keep it creatively interesting for ourselves.

How do you arise the efforts of the combat choreography?

Hurwitz Much of it has to do with the basis you lay before the match. So it makes the opponents feel more evil, making our characters feel more vulnerable and throwing emotional obstacles against them as they are getting into these battles.

Was there ever any doubt about who would win these last matches?

HEAD For the final, what you see on screen is a recognition of what we have had in our heads for many seasons. There are some zigs and zags that got us there that we could never have foreseen, but it solves in the way we always intend.

So what are lessons of “Cobra Kai”?

Hurwitz Have an open mind for others. At the beginning of the series, Daniel Larusso saw Johnny Lawrence and is like “That guy is evil.” Johnny felt the same way with Daniel. At the end, the characters have been forced to step outside their comfort zones and find common ground and move on. It is possible for people to be friends who have different philosophies. If you can work together, big things can happen.

Another lesson, I hope, is that you are more than your worst or your best moment in high school.

Hurwitz Yes. Just because you have a bad moment doesn’t mean your life is over. You continue to fight and you continue to move on. You can have other chances and third chances and fourth chances. You can still be a good person.

Could “Cobra Kai” return?

Schlossberg We have our own fan -fiction in our minds. Cobra Kai never dies, you know? We have seen how there is always a new generation.

Hurwitz This is the last chapter of this story, but we are not ready to leave this universe. We have to wait and see what happens.