Who would have thought that Cobra Kai, now approaching its sixth and final season, would become the massive Netflix hit that it is today? What makes this scenario even more interesting is the fact that the Karate Kid spin-off show didn't even start as a Netflix series. For our initial reunion with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Cobra Kai debuted on YouTube's subscription service YouTube Red in 2018, then returned for a second season in 2019. The series that continued the story of these rivals stretched its fist-pumping legs and became one of the streamer's biggest successes. So much so that YouTube signed on for a third season before the video site changed its business strategy and canceled the show in the process.

While "Cobra Kai" may have been out of action at the time, a bidding war quickly began among streaming services — with Netflix ultimately winning. Getting this creative boost and the Netflix upgrade revived the creators' original plans to toy with the idea of ​​stretching the world of "Cobra Kai" beyond the testing of Johnny and Danny's friendship.

In a 2020 interview with /A film discussing future possibilities about the series, Cobra Kai creator John Hurwitz admitted that even before the third season arrived, ideas were being formulated for a spin-off of the hit series. "We put the thought into spin-off ideas," Hurwitz said. “We just love The Karate Kid universe, we love all the characters from the past, and we love the characters we've created. It's hard for me to give you an exact answer to this, but what I can say is that we have a list of at least five different scenarios that we would pursue that we could look at."

Flash forward to 2024 and Season 6 perfectly sets up a spin-off for the beloved Karate Kid character. by the Mr. Miyagi's Digital Resurrection (Pat Morita) and making his past a focal point in the show. His brief appearance in the final season opened up interesting possibilities for the future — possibilities that the show's creators have been teasing The Hollywood Reporter. "Now that we're done, we can actually get down to business," said co-creator Hayden Schlossberg. "We were just focused on Cobra Kai and finished it. And right now, in the process of editing the last few episodes. Once that's done, hopefully we'll have some exciting things coming up...”

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