Why Cobra Kai moved from YouTube to Netflix in Season 3

Who would have thought that “Cobra Kai,” now heading into its sixth and final season, would have become the huge Netflix hit that it is today? What makes this scenario even more interesting is the fact that the Karate Kid spinoff didn't even start as a Netflix series. Our original reunion with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Cobra Kai debuted on YouTube subscriptions on YouTube Red in 2018 and then returned for a second season in 2019. The show that continued the story. of these contenders stretched their legs to high kick, punch and became one of the streamer's biggest successes. So much so that YouTube pulled the plug on the third season before the video site changed its business strategy and canceled the show in the process.

While “Cobra Kai” may not have worked at the time, a bidding war between streaming services quickly ensued, with Netflix eventually winning. That creative inspiration and Netflix's upgrade revived the creators' original plans to play with the idea of ​​expanding the world of “Cobra Kai” beyond Johnny and Danny's testing friendship.

in the 2020 interview with /Film about future possibilities series “Cobra Kai” creator John Hurwitz admitted that even before the appearance of the third season, ideas were formulated for a branch of the show that became a hit. “We've been brainstorming additional ideas,” Hurwitz said. “We just love The Karate Kid universe, love all the characters from back in the day and we love the characters we've created. It's hard for me to give you an exact answer to that, but I can say we have a list of at least five different scenarios that we would implement and that we could consider.”

Flash forward to 2024 and Season 6 sets up the spinoff for the beloved “Karate Kid” character perfectly the author The Digital Resurrection of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and making his past the focal point of the show. His brief appearance in the final season opened up interesting possibilities for the future — possibilities that the show's creators teased The Hollywood Reporter. “Now that we're done, we can start working on these things,” said co-creator Hayden Schlossberg. “We've just been focused on 'Cobra Kai' and finishing it. And right now we're working on editing the last couple of episodes. Once that's done, hopefully we'll have some exciting stuff…”

And none of this would have been possible if Netflix hadn't stuck around and saved the show.