Cobra Kai co-showrunner Hayden Schlossberg recently shared that having Thomas Ian Griffith return as Terry Silver has been in the works since the show first started.
"We love the Terry Silver character from Karate Kid III. We've talked about his character from the beginning, you know, from before writing the first episode," Schlossberg told GameSpot. "You just don't know at what point he's going to enter in the early days. We didn't say, 'OK, it's gonna be Season 4.'"
The co-showrunner added that they took their time planning Silver's return, and decided that reintroducing the character in Season 4 would make sense because they would have the time "to devote the story space to that character."
"By the time Season 4 hit, we wanted to bring that energy into the show," Schlossberg explained further. "We've seen, at that point, Kreese with Johnny, and it would be interesting to add a contemporary perspective--somebody who knows Kreese and can talk to Kreese in a different way."
Schlossberg also recognized that bringing Silver into the fold would create a new dynamic between Kreese and Silver's Cobra Kai, Daniel LaRusso's Miyagi-Do Karate and Johnny Lawrence's Eagle Fang Karate while also bringing a sense of nostalgia to the new season.
"[We get to] explore the craziness that is Terry Silver," Schlossberg continued. "We understand that movies like Karate Kid III and Rocky 4 back in the '80s were not considered, like, the critical darling that the original movies like Rocky and Karate Kid were. But we were just kids at the time watching these movies and you just kind of fall in love with Drago, even though it's kind of ridiculous. And Terry Silver was sort of like that, to this franchise."
Griffith also recently dished on return as Silver, a character he originated in 1989's The Karate Kid III. "[Something] I think we've kept alive with Terry [on Cobra Kai] is bringing back that glee he has," the actor said at the time. "He actually enjoys this -- he's this billionaire who will have all this going on and [still] go back to the small little world of a karate tournament in the Valley. It's so absurd that it's fantastic!"
While Season 4 of Cobra Kai has yet to premiere, Schlossberg warned fans earlier this week that spoilers from the new season have already started leaking online. "I have seen photos that spoil CK4. The internet is dangerous right now," he tweeted on Dec. 27. "So as long as you know the show comes out Dec 31, just spend the next five days going out for a jog if the weather's nice, or if it's cold, build a snowperson or something and just wait 4 days and change."
Season 4 of Cobra Kai is slated to premiere on Netflix on Friday, Dec. 31.
Source: GameSpot