Cobra Kai fans clamoring for more content from the show's upcoming fifth season now have plenty of footage with which to sate themselves.
Netflix has pulled back the curtain on the chaotic combat set for Cobra Kai Season 5 by releasing the first full trailer. While the clip also proves that the status quo when it comes to character traits (specifically Johnny's lost-in-time awkwardness) will remain in place, the progression of the story also comes into focus, showcasing the rapid growth of the Cobra Kai dojo under the clutches of Terry Silver, who deviously procured the dojo franchise from John Kreese by having him unjustly incarcerated. Of course, Kreese may be stuck behind bars, but his "strike first" philosophy seems to be serving him well in the slammer, as some unfortunate prisoners painfully learn firsthand. Yet, we see forces organizing and aligning against Silver in the outside world as well.
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The clip shows the ponytail-pushing sensei's promise made back in 1989's The Karate Kid Part III of opening dojos across the valley finally being fulfilled. This is emphasized with the recruitment of new teaching talent to help oversee the expanding franchise, notably a newcomer in the seemingly villainous South Korean sensei Kim Da-Eun, played by Australian actor Alicia Hannah-Kim. As the trailer shows, she clearly possesses an impressive array of skills to impart onto Cobra Kai's students. Thus, the newly codified team of Daniel, Johnny and Okinawan import Chozen are shown utilizing unconventional tactics to combat the overwhelming odds presented by Silver's exploitative avaricious tutelage.
As if that wasn't enough, Cobra Kai's personal issues between Johnny's star student (and would-be stepson), Miguel, and his biological son, Robby, are shown reaching a boiling point. This rivalry has evolved into a hybrid of sorts, combining conventional love triangle tropes -- fighting over the amorous affections of Daniel's daughter, Samantha -- with paternal undertones, in this case stemming from the (understandable) jealousy that Robby has toward Miguel after his heretofore-absent father took Miguel under his wing, providing the kind of paternal guidance he never received during childhood. Thus, the enmity between two characters who are now, for all intents and purposes, on the same side of the dojo war, could prove detrimental to the group's main goal of de-fanging Silver's toxic business endeavor.
On another note, recent teaser photos for Cobra Kai's fifth season revealed the return of Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes, the brutal tournament ringer who Silver hired to punish Daniel in Part III. While he seems poised to provide a major force in the events of Season 5, the character was conspicuously missing from the trailer. However, make no mistake, Barnes has unresolved issues with both Daniel -- who narrowly defeated him in the All-Valley Tournament -- and Silver, who dangled dollars in front of him to procure his help during the first elaborate (ultimately unsuccessful) scheme to dominate the valley with dojos. Consequently, it remains to be seen if Barnes will arrive as a friend or foe in Daniel and Johnny's dojo war.
Cobra Kai Season 5 premieres on Netflix on September 9.
Source: Netflix