Netflix waxes on another season of Cobra Kai

Get ready for another cliffhanger, Cobra Kai fans. Netflix said Friday that it has ordered a fifth season of the teenage karate soap opera, whose fourth year premieres in December.

The campy continuation of the 1980s classic Karate Kid franchise has been a year-to-year production for Sony Pictures Television, but it has always been renewed for a new season before the latest one’s debut. A statement from Netflix said production on season 5 will begin this fall in Atlanta.

Cobra Kai premiered in 2018, focusing on ex-bad guy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), now in middle age with rival Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Cobra Kai also introduced a slew of new teenagers to hook up and throw down, including Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), and Tory Nichols (Peyton List).

Season three ended with Daniel-san and Johnny combining dojos to take down martial arts svengali John Kreese (Martin Kove), who has retaken control of Cobra Kai and has Johnny’s kid (Robby) under his evil spell. Terry Silver, a shadowy figure who appeared in 1989’s The Karate Kid Part 3, returns with original actor Thomas Ian Griffith in the role.

All signs point to a season finale at Cal State Northridge’s Matador Gymnasium, host venue of the world famous All-Valley Karate Championship. But no matter who prevails, there will be at least one more season’s worth of scores to settle. After all, you don’t come into my dojo, drop a challenge and leave, old man …