How Cobra Kai Fans Really Feel About Potential Spinoffs
When William Zabka and Ralph Macchio announced they were set to appear in a follow-up series to the hit 1984 film "The Karate Kid" a few years back, expectations for said series were tempered at best. Fast forward to present day, and their "Cobra Kai" has become one of the biggest hits in the original content canon of streaming giant Netflix (who picked up the series after YouTube Red folded).
As fans of "Cobra Kai" would be quick to tell you, the series is well worthy of all the hype, expanding the stories of the now-middle-aged former karate rivals Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) in intriguing, often profoundly insightful ways. While much of the thrill has been watching Johnny and Daniel struggle with their disparate stations in life while tutoring their own karate students, it's been just as thrilling to watch friends and foes from "The Karate Kid" franchise return to their lives as well.
With characters old and new joining "Cobra Kai" every season, and the show's fanbase only growing since hitting Netflix, one can't help but think the streamer might be eyeing a spinoff series of some sort. It seems that might not be an advisable route, however, as "Cobra Kai" fandoms have some very specific feelings on the subject of spinoffs.
Cobra Kai fans would be happy if the series did not go the spinoff route
The topic of "Cobra Kai" spinoffs was recently broached in a hot-take Reddit thread from u/bigzaydadon prompting fellow fans to post their most controversial opinions on the show. While that thread boasts plenty of spicy hot takes, one of the least controversial came from a u/thewalkingwhit, who offered they do not want "Cobra Kai" to expand beyond the Daniel and Johnny storylines via a spinoff. "I don't actually want the show to have spinoffs. A follow up movie would be fine, but I don't want the lore to get f****d up by origin stories," they wrote.
Rather than scorn, that supposed hot take was met with almost universal appreciation, with a fellow fan promptly posting, "TOTALLY AGREE. That's fine if they want to make them, but I'm not watching anything without Daniel and Johnny." Redditor u/samahiscryptic soon chimed in with a hearty, "Yes!! The show is perfect the way it is," as did u/SweetHibiscus_Tea, who proclaimed, "I definitely agree with this!"
While many fans are clearly against the idea of a "Cobra Kai" spinoff series, one user, who has since deleted their account, did offer up a couple of possible spinoff ideas. "The only good spin off I imagine is something with Chozen OR perhaps the Binary Brothers in college," they suggested. "That'd be fun to watch." Even that user hedged a bit, however, admitting, "But Daniel/Johnny and Miguel/Johnny are the heart of 'Cobra Kai.' So it'd be hard to imagine a spin off without them being heavily featured."
Given the massive popularity of "Cobra Kai," it's hard to imagine Netflix isn't eyeing some sort of spinoff concept. But it remains exceedingly unclear if fans will actually watch one.