Cobra Kai (May 2018- present)

 

Sypnosis 

Thirty-four years after being defeated by Daniel LaRusso in the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny Lawrence, now in his 50s, works as a part-time handyman and lives in an apartment in Reseda, Los Angeles, having fallen far from the wealthy lifestyle in Encino that had been enabled by his verbally abusive step-father, Sid Weinberg. He has a son named Robby with his former girlfriend Shannon Keene, but he abandoned them both when Robby was born as his mother Laura died shortly before Robby's birth. Johnny, admittedly, has never recovered from his breakup with his high school girlfriend, Ali Mills.

After losing his job, a down-and-out Johnny uses karate to defend his teenage neighbor Miguel Diaz from a gang of bullies. Miguel, an asthmatic kid who lives with his Ecuadorian single mother Carmen and grandmother Rosa, asks Johnny to teach him. Initially reluctant, Johnny finally agrees and decides to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo as a chance to recapture his past; however, this act reawakens his rivalry with Daniel LaRusso. Daniel, now the owner of a highly successful car dealership chain, is married to co-owner Amanda and has two children: Samantha and Anthony. Daniel is finally living the wealthy lifestyle he envied as a kid when he lived in Reseda. However, after his friend and mentor Mr. Miyagi died, Daniel's struggle to meaningfully connect with his children has disrupted the balance in his life. Meanwhile, his mother Lucille, his other source of support, has a complicated relationship with Amanda.

Johnny's dojo attracts a group of bullied social outcasts, including Miguel's newfound friends Aisha, Hawk, and initially Demetri, who find camaraderie and self-confidence under his tutelage, a marked contrast to the kind of students Tommy, Bobby, Dutch, Jimmy and Johnny were when training in the original Cobra Kai run by John Kreese. 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. Thus, Miguel develops into a very different kind of student than Daniel, or even Johnny, was; he also begins dating Samantha. Johnny's efforts to reform Cobra Kai are threatened by the unexpected reappearance of Kreese, who aspires to bring the dojo back to its originally ruthless form.

As a means of revenge against his estranged father, Robby convinces Amanda to hire him for a position at the LaRusso Auto dealership and develops a close friendship with Daniel, who is unaware of Robby's parentage. He even studies Mr. Miyagi's form of Karate with Daniel and befriends and eventually starts dating Samantha after her breakup with Miguel. She eventually joins her father's dojo, along with Demetri and a few other Cobra Kai defects. Miguel later begins dating a new Cobra Kai student, Tory, who becomes Sam's rival. 

 

Cast & Character

Main

Character	Actor	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
Introduced in films
Daniel LaRusso	Ralph Macchio	Main
Johnny Lawrence	William Zabka	Main
John Kreese	Martin Kove	Special Guest	Main
Introduced in Cobra Kai
Amanda LaRusso	Courtney Henggeler	Main
Miguel Diaz	Xolo Maridueña	Main
Robby Keene	Tanner Buchanan	Main
Samantha LaRusso	Mary Mouser	Main
Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz	Jacob Bertrand	Recurring	Main
Demetri	Gianni DeCenzo	Recurring	Main
Carmen Diaz	Vanessa Rubio	Recurring			Main[6]
Tory Nichols	Peyton List		Recurring		Main[6]

Recurring

• Nichole Brown as Aisha Robinson (season 1–2)
• Hannah Kepple as Moon
• Ed Asner as Sid Weinberg (seasons 1 & 3)
• Rose Bianco as Rosa (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Diora Baird as Shannon Keene
• Bret Ernst as Louie LaRusso Jr. (seasons 1 & 3)
• Dan Ahdoot as Anoush
• Joe Seo as Kyler (seasons 1 & 3)
• Annalisa Cochrane as Yasmine (seasons 1 & 3)
• Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Bo Mitchell as Brucks (seasons 1 & 3)
• Owen Morgan as Bert
• Susan Gallagher as Homeless Lynn (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Terayle Hill as Trey (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Jeff Kaplan as Cruz (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)
• Nathaniel Oh as Nathaniel (seasons 2-present)
• Aedin Mincks as Mitch (seasons 2-present)
• Khalil Everage as Chris (seasons 2-present)
• Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond "Stingray" (season 2)
• Okea Eme-Akwari as Shawn Payne (season 3)
• Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny (season 4)^[6]
• Oona O'Brien as Devon (season 4)^[6]

Guest

• David Shatraw as Tom Cole ("Cobra Kai Never Dies," season 1, "Now You're Gonna Pay," season 3)
• Ken Davitian as Armand Zarkarian ("Counterbalance," season 1, "The Moment of Truth," season 2, "King Cobra," season 3)
• Candace Moon as Laura Lawrence ("Quiver," season 1)
• Kim Fields as Sandra Robinson ("The Moment of Truth", season 2)
• Selah Austria as Piper ("Pulpo," season 2)
• Dee Snider as himself ("Miyagi-Do," season 3)
• Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso ("Molting," season 1, "Glory of Love," season 2)
• Rob Garrison as Tommy ("Take a Right," season 2)
• Ron Thomas as Bobby Brown ("Take a Right," season 2, "Now You're Gonna Pay," season 3)
• Tony O'Dell as Jimmy ("Take a Right," season 2)
• Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills ("Feel The Night," "December 19," season 3)
• Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi ("The Right Path," "Miyagi-Do," season 3)
• Tamlyn Tomita as Kumiko ("The Right Path," "Miyagi-Do," season 3)
• Traci Toguchi as Yuna ("Miyagi-Do," season 3)
• Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver (TBA, season 4)

Archival footage

The following characters only appear via archival footage from the film series:

• Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi
• Chad McQueen as Dutch
• Danny Kamekona as Sato Toguchi
• Nobu McCarthy as Yukie
• Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes
• Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews