Cobra Kai: How to successfully revive a franchise years later.

 For years, the Karate Kid franchise was thought to be dead. The successful run of movies ran from 1984 until 1994. Although, the movies were made with diminishing returns, with several fans and critics claiming that it should never have become a franchise and as such, only the first movie should have been made. There was even a short lived animated children's television series created in 1989. The animated series did not feature Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso or Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi and thus, the lack of the original actors hurt the product. 

Before the creation of Cobra Kai, there were a couple of unproduced attempts to revive the seemingly dead franchise. In a 2020 interview with Collider, William Zabka mentioned the fact that Pat Morita had pitched an idea to him in 2005. This idea featured an interesting premise, as it had a grown up Johnny Lawrence tending to a dying Mr. Miyagi after the former had become a doctor. Sadly, as intriguing as that concept is, Pat Morita died before it could happen. There was also the idea of a crossover between The Karate Kid and Rocky franchises, revealed in the January 2022 issue of Empire by Ralph Macchio. The concept of which was awful and I for one am glad it didn't get greenlit. The 2010 "remake" of the first movie which starred Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith imo, should have been titled something else such as Kung-Fu Kid as it seemed to focus more on Kung-Fu than Karate. 

When news first broke of the existence of Cobra Kai back in 2017, I was sceptical. As a big fan of the franchise since my younger days, my expectations were low. Especially considering that we had just gotten a Star Wars trilogy that was incoherent and full of bad writing, as well as disrespecting legacy characters such as Luke Skywalker. I am clearly not a fan of modern Hollyweird in any capacity but I had heard good things upon the premiere of Cobra Kai and eventually decided to give it a watch. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show. From the writing being mostly believable, the great action sequences with well choregraphed fight scenes to the performances of the cast, old and new. One of the show's main strengths is the characterisations of the main characters. For me, the standout in the series is Johnny Lawrence. From the very first episode, I became empathic to his plight and wanted him to succeed. His fall from grace, him being a Karate prodigy and prospect to him being defeated by Daniel and his down spiral into being a drunken mess is expertly done. It was the right move for the character as it gave William Zabka something new to work with and yet it made total sense for Jonny Lawrence. The journey Johnny Lawrence goes on through out the series is my personal favourite as I myself have hit rock bottom and crawled my way back to make something of myself. The emotional depth that Zabka brings cannot be understated as Johnny Lawrence becomes a sensei and later a father figure to Miguel. Yet, despite him being an awesome sensei, he still is a very flawed character as seen in his estranged relationship with his biological son, Robby Keene. He even states himself that he wasn't ready for fatherhood and thus ran away when his son was born. Despite this, he tries to make up for his failure with Robby by being there for Miguel when his student needs him the most. When Miguel got seriously injured after the infamous school brawl, Johnny takes the news poorly and is torn up at the prospect of having failed again. Seeing him working to get Miguel to be able to walk again is one of the most emotional storylines of the entire show and makes you want to cheer for the pair. In contrast to his mostly successful relationship with Miguel, his attempts to reconcile with Robbie often end in failure. The two do have a moment at the end of Season 4 however, which is awesome. Season 5 sees the highly anticipated reconciliation between the pair. His rivalry with Daniel LaRusso also persists which lends to some tense moments and even some quality comedy. Seeing the pair team up to take on Cobra Kai was such a great moment. Also, the moments in which he first meets returning characters such as Chozen, Mike Barnes and even Terry Silver are gold.

I have often compared the way Cobra Kai used Johnny Lawrence to the way in which the Star Wars sequel trilogy used Luke Skywalker. Both men have seemingly been on the downturn, Johnny having become a drunken mess at the start of Cobra Kai and Luke having gone into hiding with the shame of having tried to kill Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. However, Jonny's downward spiral actually makes perfect sense for the character as he was humiliated after losing the All Valley Tournament final to Daniel LaRusso. Luke Skywalker on the other hand, was a beacon of hope and an optimist. It seemed out of character for Luke to simply hide himself away and become more or less nihilistic. After all, he faced his own father and never let go of the idea that his father may be beyond redemption. He even succeeded in redeeming Anakin/Vader at the end. He doesn't get much of a proper redemption arc in the sequel trilogy in contrast to Johnny's.  

Much like Johnny's situation, most of the characters are written in believable ways. LaRusso being the owner of a successful automobile dealership seems fitting and also fuel's Johnny's redemption arc in a neat way. I also believe that the antagonists are handled well, John Kreese and Terry Silver. They're a lot more fleshed out than they were in the movies as the show delves into their Vietnam experience and a little pre-Vietnam for Kreese. There's also some Korea stuff that focuses on their training with Kim Sung Young. What's impressive about the return of Terry Silver is the fact that he's not just a one-note, cocaine fuelled psychopath. He's cunning, manipulative and a great physical threat. Not to mention the fact that his business suave and countless resources make him a very intelligent threat that's not simply just going to challenge the protagonists physically, but rather psychologically and emotionally as well and Thomas Ian Griffith has done a tremendous job with the material he's been given.  

All of the characters feel human with real flaws. The writing team has done an expert job with character development whilst staying true to the heart of the franchise and to the characters themselves. They have also used nostalgia and fanservice fabulously and to great effect. They have managed to give the show an 80s feel whilst staying current and fresh, which is tougher than it may seem. The show also does a good job at not explicitly telling the audience who to root for. Although, I can tell you firmly that I root for Johnny Lawrence all the way! 

In short, Cobra Kai succeeds because everyone behind it knows what they're doing, what the audience wants and also are respectful to what came before them. It successfully plays on the nostalgia of the original series and has elements that are comparable to the time period in which the original movies came out. It does this whilst still bringing something new to the table in regard to the story and cast. Anime live adaptations could learn a thing or two from this series.