Cobra Kai never dies! Well, we’ve got some bad news for you on that front — it’s about to. Snapping up The Karate Kid spinoff from YouTube after two seasons proved to be one of Netflix’s smartest acquisitions of all time, as the martial arts comedy-drama has maintained its status as one of the streaming giant’s most popular series ever since its third season, the first to debut on Netflix, premiered in 2021. That’s why it’s so tragic that the upcoming sixth season has been confirmed to be its last.
Over the past 50 episodes, since the show began in 2018, both former ’80s kids and a whole new generation have gone gaga for the phenomenally successful continuation of The Karate Kid franchise, which has seen veterans like Ralph Macchio and William Zabka star alongside newcomers Xolo Maridueña, Peyton List, and Tanner Buchanan, who’ve since become major stars themselves. But everything must come to an end — except maybe the Miyagi-verse overall, but more on that in a moment — so when can we expect the final season to high-kick its way onto Netflix?
Does Cobra Kai season 6 have a release date yet?
At the time of writing, exactly when we can expect the final season of Cobra Kai to arrive is sadly a mystery. We can rest assured, however, that everyone involved in the show is doing their best to get it on screens sometime in 2024. In Dec. 2023, co-showrunner Hayden Schlossberg confirmed that getting it out this year “is the goal.”
At the same time, he also teased that the series finale will be extra-long, so at least we won’t have to say goodbye to the gang so quickly once the new episodes do finally arrive. Speaking of, we can’t rule out the possibility that Netflix will (karate) chop the final season in two, as has become the normal release procedure for the platform’s biggest hitters — see Stranger Things and Bridgerton.
In early February 2024, Netflix announced that filming had finally begun on the new batch of episodes, after a lengthy delay caused by the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. The shoot is due to last until July 31, 2024, so we can categorically state that season 6 won’t be with us at any point over the first half of the year. Given practical post-production needs, it’s likely the final episodes won’t be able to go until November or December.
We’re in the weird position, then of potentially getting the new Karate Kid movie — which was intended to be a way to expand the franchise after Cobra Kai — before Cobra Kai actually ends. Macchio and Jackie Chan, star of 2010’s Karate Kid reboot, are teaming up for that film which hits theaters on Dec. 13, 2024. So the final months of the year should be a huge treat of a time for students of the Miyagi-verse.
