The Karate Kid Veteran Missing From The Cobra Kai Season 3 Trailer
34 years after the events of The Karate Kid, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) still reels from his loss against Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). After Johnny helps save his neighbor Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) from some bullies, he decides to reopen the old Cobra Kai dojo to lead a new generation in the art of karate.
While you don't have to have seen the original Karate Kid series to enjoy Cobra Kai, it certainly helps, thanks to the bevy of references and returning cast members who pop up throughout the series. Zabka and Macchio are just the tip of the iceberg, as the most recent trailer for Cobra Kai season 3 reveals Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) from The Karate Kid Part II will come back for the upcoming season.
Fans have not been shy about their support for seeing more Karate Kid characters come back into the fold, like Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) from The Karate Kid Part III. However, there's one popular character they've been waiting for who's already been hinted at within Cobra Kai.
Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) was teased at the end of season 2
Johnny feels an immense amount of guilt over Miguel's injury at the end of Cobra Kai season 2. He goes to the beach, where he tosses his cell phone into the sand, failing to realize he's just received a friend request on Facebook from Ali Mills Schwarber, who's now a pediatric surgeon. Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) is the ex-girlfriend of both Johnny and Daniel, but all these years later, she's moved on and has married someone else.
Considering how important Ali is in The Karate Kid mythos, fans have been waiting with bated breath for the character to come back on Cobra Kai. The teaser at the end of season 2 suggests that she's out there, and that she wants to get back in touch with Johnny. Some fans have speculated she could be Miguel's doctor because she's gone on to become a pediatric surgeon.
That seems unlikely at this point, especially since we haven't seen Ali appear at all in any of the Cobra Kai season 3 trailers. It's definitely possible they're just trying to hide Ali for the time being so that she can be a surprise when the new season actually drops. There's also the possibility she doesn't appear at all in season 3, as there's been no official confirmation as of yet that Shue has even joined the cast.
All we've seen of her so far has been a Facebook friend request that Johnny didn't even see. It wouldn't be surprising at this point if she shows up at the very end of season 3 to tease a more prominent role going into season 4. There's definitely no shortage of story lines for season 3 to follow, between Miguel's recovery and John Kreese (Martin Kove) taking control of Cobra Kai. Ali coming into the mix would definitely send Johnny and Daniel for a loop, considering neither one has really gotten over her. We'll just have to wait and see how she could enter this story when Cobra Kai season 3 arrives on Netflix on January 8, 2021.