KICKING & STREAMING
When Cobra Kai launched on YouTube’s premium streaming service in 2018, it was, appropriately enough, the underdog. A sequel series to a beloved, three-decades-old film franchise that had fizzled out in the mid- ‘90s, long before a financially successful remake consigned the original continuity to history, Cobra Kai entered the fiercely competitive streaming arena as barely more than a white belt.
Certainly, the world had moved on. Karate had long fallen out of favour on screen - replaced by high-impact martial arts in everything from to ’s own remake, which might more accurately have been titled . Over the years original stars Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso) and William Zabka (highschool bully Johnny Lawrence) flirted with a revival, sending up their iconic roles for cameos in sitcom , No More Kings music video ‘Sweep The Leg’ (which Zabka directed) and Funny Or Die short ‘Wax On, F*** Off’. But despite hearing pitches from numerous writers, nothing felt like a worthy follow-up to the box-officeconquering original.
