When Netflixâs Cobra Kai finishes its sixth and final season next year, itâs unlikely to be the end for everyone. There is, of course, a Karate Kid movie on the horizon thatâll feature Ralph Macchioâs Daniel LaRusso, but the creators of Cobra Kai teased that in addition, they are already considering ways to keep the kicks and punches coming.
âThe three of us would love to continue to work within this universe,â co-creator Josh Heald told io9. âItâs our favorite universe to play in and we have a lot of other ideas that are on our minds already that weâre starting to discuss with our partners.â
Speaking with io9, Heald and his co-creators Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg wouldnât get into specifics, but the trio did clarify two things. One, any potential follow-ups will not make the journey of Cobra Kai less satisfying, and two, they are not speaking about the upcoming film.
âWe achieved everything in this series that we set out to do,â Heald said. âAnd we were unapologetic in our drive and our goals to do some really, really big things as the sixth season winds down. We had so many balls in the air when we entered season six in terms of characters you care about, storylines that are in progress, and characters and storylines that we want to begin to tell because weâre always telling something new with a new season as well. And while landing all of those storylines and arcs, some of them will end neatly, some of them will inevitably not. And that was intentional in a way to definitely leave something on the table.â
âThereâs always more on the table because each new season just creates new branches of that tree,â Heald continued. âAnd the three of us never stopped talking about, âOh, you know what would be great if you do this?â Thereâs always more to tell that youâll be curious about.â But, again, that has nothing to do with the upcoming movie, which will co-star Macchio along with Jackie Chan as Mr. Han from the 2010 remake.
âMr. Han is not part of our canon,â Heald said. âI think itâs more that Daniel is part of that canon. Weâve been telling our story the same way weâve been telling it since season one. The feature team making this movie presents yet another opportunity for another filmmaker to come in and present their vision of a movie that takes place within a Karate Kid universe. This one happens to overlap with Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han. But for us, it had no bearing on our story.â
So if itâs not that movie, what could it be? Could we follow some of the students to college? Will one of them become the next sensei of Miyagi-Do? Will we pick up with another karate dojo in the Valley? And will this be a show, movie, or something else entirely? Surely weâll find out next year after Cobra Kai wraps up.
io9 will have much more from the Cobra Kai creators leading up to the first part of the sixth and final season, which debuts on Netflix July 18. Catch up here.
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