New 'Cobra Kai' Trailer Teases The Return Of The Ultimate Tournament
With March Madness stirring up sports fans, it's the perfect time for YouTube's upcoming Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai to make more people aware of the show's existence.
Touting the karate tournament angle that was made so famous by The Karate Kid in 1984, a new promo shows plenty of punching and kicking. However, despite the teasers indicating a new confrontation between the film's original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, there's no real fighting seen between the two. Instead, we see a new protege of the titular karate dojo fighting in competition.
Watch the Cobra Kai Trailer
The Karate Kid features one of the most memorable endings to an underdog sports movie of all time. The film's bully Johnny Lawrence is struggling in the final round of the All-Valley Karate Tournament, even after his opponent Daniel LaRusso is somewhat limited in combat due to a leg injury that was intentionally caused by another member of the Cobra Kai dojo. After being told to "sweep the leg" in an effort to finish the fight, Lawrence goes all out against LaRusso, before eventually being dealt the crushing blow of a crane kick to the face. Recreating the excitement of that final sequence won't be easy, but it's clear that a karate tournament will still be a prominent part of the series.
But I find myself curious as to how the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel will play out in this new series. There are shots of Daniel training and taunting Johnny, but will they actually fight? It seems like Daniel LaRusso has become a bit of a bully, perhaps letting the success of that karate tournament and his car dealership go to his head. Maybe he'll be a villain throughout a decent chunk of the series before inevitably seeing that Johnny Lawrence is doing a good thing by mentoring a young student in the ways of Cobra Kai. Perhaps Daniel will offer a new perspective from what he learned from Mr. Miyagi back in the day.
You can watch the full trailer for Cobra Kai over here, but otherwise here's the official synopsis:
In the highly-anticipated return of two iconic characters, the arch-rivals from the legendary Karate Kid film series reunite over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. Now living in the affluent hills of Encino, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) leads an enviable life with his beautiful family, while running a successful string of car dealerships throughout the valley.
Meanwhile, his high school adversary, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), whose life has taken a rocky turn, seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo. Their lives inevitably become intertwined and the rivalry is reignited, setting forth the next generation of "karate kids" in COBRA KAI, a YouTube Red Original Series.
Cobra Kai debuts on YouTube Red on May 2, 2018.