The final season of Cobra Kai will be less bingeable than usual. That’s because Netflix is splitting the supersized season six across three release dates.
On Thursday, the streamer released a teaser trailer (below), along with its release strategy for the popular family drama series.
The 15-episode final season will drop Part 1 on July 18, then hold Part 2 until Nov. 28. A third part, dubbed “The Finale Event,” won’t be released until sometime in 2025.
The official description: “Picking up with Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate.”
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Creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have previously called the decision to end the series “bittersweet” but one that lets them bring Cobra Kai to a close the way they want.
“Reacquainting the world with the Karate Kid universe has been our humble honor,” the trio said in a statement in January. “Making Cobra Kai has allowed us to join the same hallowed dojo once inhabited by the great Robert Mark Kamen, John Avildsen, Jerry Weintraub, and all the amazing original cast members. It has also enabled us to play sensei, expanding the original storylines and birthing a new generation of underdogs. We’ve never once taken this opportunity for granted.”
“Our day one goal with Cobra Kai has always been to end it on our terms, leaving the Valley in the time and place we’ve always imagined,” they continued. “So it is with immense pride and thankfulness that we are able to announce that achievement. The upcoming season six will mark the conclusion of Cobra Kai.”
Cobra Kai is a continuation of the Karate Kid movie franchise — with original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles. The show launched as a YouTube series during the platform’s relatively brief foray into longer-form scripted programming. After two seasons at YouTube, it moved to Netflix in 2020 where its been a strong performer.
When speaking to THR earlier this year about their other Netflix series, Obliterated, the creating trio explained their decision to end Cobra Kai.
“We wanted to go out on our own terms,” said Heald. “We grew up with the Karate Kid franchise [of which a new movie is coming in 2024] and we have so much respect for the universe. We wanted to expand the universe in all the ways we have. Between seasons five and six, we approached Netflix and said, ‘We’re ready to bring this in for a landing.’ We told them the story that we wanted to tell, and they supported the decision. It’s always been a good relationship with Sony and Netflix. Everybody understands — you don’t want to overstay your welcome. It’s a franchise we intend to move with. We left the door open to revisit storylines that we are going to resolve in season six, and we just felt like there’s value in not leaving the series bone dry.”
