No official announcement, but here’s what the creators have said about the next season on Netflix

Cobra Kai season 6 may not yet be official, but we’re hoping for a big update sooner rather than later. Star Ralph Macchio has spoken about ongoing plans for the show, while the creators have dropped a few hints to us too. Even though Netflix hasn’t given the green light, we have a pretty good idea of where the Karate Kid sequel series is heading if it gets renewed.

If you want to know more about Cobra Kai season 6 then you’re in the right place. From exclusive quotes to Sekai Takai speculation, and a look at everything that’s been said about the new season, it’s all here in our guide.

Cobra Kai season 6: is it happening and when could it be released?

No official word on whether Cobra Kai season 6 is actually happening, though co-creator Hayden Schlossberg told us there’s a “time and a place” for a further announcement. He said: “There’s no official response to [season 6 speculation] right now, except we have lots of ideas. There’s time and places to make official things, we’re not at that place right now.”

Ralph Macchio, however, has stoked the flames further. In an interview with Us Magazine(opens in new tab), he said, “It hasn’t officially been picked up. I need to say that because that is the truth. [But] we’re feeling pretty good that we’ll get to continue the show and let it evolve and land when it needs to.” In a later interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast(opens in new tab) he said he expects something to happen “very soon.”

So, it’s looking like a sure-ish thing. But the one-two punch of the fourth season in December 2021 and fifth season in September 2022 is unlikely to be repeated. The pair of seasons were essentially filmed back to back and, as Jon Hurwitz told us, “nothing” has been filmed so far. That’s despite the conversation surrounding a Ralph Macchio interview with ComicBook.com(opens in new tab) spiralling out into suggestion that some season six scenes had already been filmed.

Expect Netflix to land on a decision, one way or another pretty soon.

As for a release date, prior filming start times can clue us in to a rough window. Both the fourth and fifth season aired 11-12 months after filming began. If that’s the case again, we can expect season six to follow a year after filming begins. A 2024 timeframe wouldn’t be out of the question.

Who could be in the Cobra Kai season 6 cast?

We expect most of the Cobra Kai cast, if not all, to be retained for a sixth season. That would mean Ralph Macchio and William Zabka are back as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence respectively.

They would be joined by the karate kids: Xolo Mariduena, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Jacob Bertrand, Peyton List, and Gianni DeCenzo. Devon actor Oona O’Brien could even be upgraded to series regular. In terms of the older cast, Courtney Henggeler and Vanessa Rubio will likely return, as will Alicia Hannah-Kim, who played Kim Da-Eun. Sean Kanan’s Mike Barnes and Chozen actor Yuji Okumoto are perhaps bigger question marks, however; their status is still up in the air depending on where the story goes next..

Kreese actor Martin Kove would factor in far more heavily in a potential Cobra Kai season 6 after his dramatic jail break in the season five finale. “The one person who is out there to potentially wreak havoc is Kreese, who makes his escape at the very end,” Jon Hurwitz told us. “There’s plenty of drama to be had.”

And what of Terry Silver actor Thomas Ian Griffith? “In terms of Terry Silver, this may be the end for him – or maybe not,” Hurwitz said. “You never know with a character of his means and determination. But we love Thomas Ian Griffith, it’s been amazing working with him the last couple of years. We’ll see if we get to work with him more.”

Possible Cobra Kai season 6 story and theories

Cobra Kai season 5 ended with Cobra Kai seemingly being disbanded, Terry Silver being arrested for his various crimes, and Kreese escaping from prison. Miguel and Robby also buried the hatchet and Johnny is finally settling into his newfound role as a family man. 

For now, it appears everything has wrapped up nicely. But there’s still the Sekai Takai tournament over the horizon. The “Super Bowl of karate” is something the creators have in mind when considering a new season.

“We don’t know all of the details of what that involves, other than it’s the biggest tournament yet in the series,” Schlossberg said. “We’ll see how that all plays out. We’ll just say we have lots of ideas for the future of where we’re going with these characters.”

A global karate tournament could be on the agenda, and the show has two remaining antagonists to lead the charge: Kreese and sensei Kim Da-Eun, who had a significant stake in Cobra Kai.

Could the pair lead a new team to Sekai Takai? It’s certainly something on the table, though don’t expect Kenny or Tory to join their ranks. The pair have left Cobra Kai behind, so new characters (and contenders) will have to emerge from the shadows to take on Miyagi-do’s prized students.

Then there’s also Johnny dealing with becoming a dad for the second time. A minor time skip – no House of the Dragon-style jumps here – may help speed up that plotline, while also intensifying one of our favorite fan theories: Terry Silver might be dying. If he is shuffling off this mortal karate coil, Silver must have one more trick up his gi to help the sensei sign off from the series in style. Watch this space.

What else have the creators said about Cobra Kai season 6?

Hayden Schlossberg has teased things getting bigger and better if a sixth season of Cobra Kai is confirmed.

“It’s always starting from a place of how do we take it to the next level while staying true to the original movie?” the co-creator told us. “I use the Rocky movies as comparison: there’s always some new angle, something that feels bigger, or going back to the roots of what it is.

But you know what you’re gonna get: you’re gonna get awesome montages, Johnny being amazing, and the soap opera has some really big moments still to come.”

The creators told Collider(opens in new tab) that they aren’t keen on covering old ground either. “We have a few more tricks up our sleeve for where we go from here, but it does get bigger every year,” they said. “And we’re trying at all times to make sure we’re not plagiarizing ourselves at this point.”

One thing is for sure, though: it’s not the end. As Jon Hurwitz told us, the season 5 finale was “intended to have a different kind of feeling at the end there. We see how some people could see it as a little bit of a series finale kind of feeling, but Kreese has a famous line in one of the earlier seasons: ‘Peace is just a lull between battles.’”

He added, “We look forward to moving forward. Looks like everything’s ok in the Valley! Let’s see how it continues.”

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