Netflix has given Cobra Kai fans an extra gift this holiday season as it raises the exterior premiere of season 3 from January 8 to New Year’s Day.
And again, the Karate kind spinoff, which ended season 2 on a devastating rock hanger, delivers a huge cheer from fans and critics, not to mention mega streams for Netflix. The addictive entertainment program, which rekindles the rivalry between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and a redeemed Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as it launches a new generation of teenage fighters, is still one of the greatest underdog success stories of the past in television. decade.
In a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Macchio (59) reflects on their original expectations of returning to the Karate kind-verse when Cobra Kai launched on YouTube Red in 2018.
“It exceeded my expectations,” he says (see above). ‘Not that I did not feel we were making something great that connects to the original story, the nostalgia of the Karate kind universe and pay homage to it and never lose sight of it. But moving to this level on YouTube breaks out that way …
‘The low expectations helped us, I think. The press and the media were like, ‘OK, they do this now. Sure, no one has original ideas, why not? “So it was a good thing for us. ‘
Zabka, 55, cleared up a misconception that has hung over the series since the premiere of season 2. It involves the death of actor Rob Garrison, who plays his role as one of Johnny’s old Cobra Kai friends Tommy Sheridan (owner of one of the original film’s most famous exclamations, “Get him a suitcase. Yes!”) in the sixth episode, “Take a Right.” After a motorcycle and camping rally with Johnny, Bobby (Ron Thomas) and Jimmy (Tony O’Dell), the terminally ill Tommy is found dead, and last seen in a suitcase, natch, one of the program’s numerous return visits to its origin.
When Garrison himself passed away only months after the premiere of Season 2, fans speculated that he must have been sick in real life as well, and Cobra Kai was using the episode as a nod to both the character and the actor. However, Zabka says that was not the case.
“He was not sick when we filmed the episode,” Zabka says of Garrison. “He was such a fan of the first season. He was just delighted that he was invited to come back and play Tommy in the condition Tommy was in, to put him in a suitcase. I thought he was going to get it hard, but he did it with all his heart and he loved every second of it.
“He later became ill. It was in a way a kind of serendipity. But he had the chance to put his last Tommy out there and lay Tommy down as he wanted as an artist. And he was pretty in it, so it’s a tribute to him. ‘
Garrison passed away on September 27, 2019 at the age of 59 after being treated for kidney and liver problems. Cobra Kai‘s first episode of season 3 is dedicated to him.
Cobra Kai Seasons 1-3 are currently streaming on Netflix.
Watch the trailer for Season 3:
– Video produced by Jen Kucsak and edited by John Santo
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