Cobra Kai has done a lot for the cast of the original Karate Kid films. It didn’t just bring back Ralph Macchio, who played American teen-turned-martial arts master Daniel LaRusso back in the Reagan era. One by one the actors who played his adversaries have re-emerged, getting that good Netflix money. But the trailer for the forthcoming Season 4 didn’t just reveal its release date. It also unveiled yet another returning foe.
Towards the end of the ad, Thomas Ian Griffith, who played one of the main baddies in the third Karate Kid film, can be seen, teaming up with Martin Kove’s John Kreese, as he did in that installment. He seems about as intense as he did back in 1989, threatening to upset the more comic tone taken by the franchise’s revival.
We also see Daniel struggling to teach alongside baddie-turned-goodie Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who keeps telling his students to strike first rather than be patient and goodly, as he was taught by Noriyuki “Pat” Morita’s Mr. Miyaga decades back. Stuff is bound to go down, but you won’t find out what kind of stuff until the year is almost up. That’s because [drum roll] the series won’t drop on Netflix until December 31. Happy New Year.
You can watch the Season 4 trailer above.
