The Karate Kid universe is about to go global. Though the original film series spent one installment in Japan, the next five episodes in Cobra Kai season six will see the story whisk to Barcelona, Spain as the students and senseis of Miyagi-Do battle dojos from every corner of the Earth. It’s the biggest, most dangerous (and totally fictional) karate tournament on the planet, the Sekai Taikai.
Episodes 6-10 of the 15-episode final season of the Netflix show debut on November 15, and io9 recently spoke with the show’s creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg about them. We talked about having a blank canvas to create a karate tournament that’s new and surprising but also served the story. We talked about what it’s like getting closer to the end. We also talked about how they felt being instrumental in, somehow, making The Karate Kid cool again.
Hurwitz, Heald, and Schlossberg also continued to tease that while Cobra Kai may be coming to an end, their time in the world of The Karate Kid is not. Read about all that, and a whole lot more, below. And check back after season six part two debuts on Netflix November 15 for detailed discussions of its ending and biggest spoilers. For now though, everything that follows is spoiler-free.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Germain Lussier, io9: These next five episodes are by far the most karate-filled and action-packed of the entire series so far. Tell me about developing the events of the Sekai Taikai, cause it felt like part Squid Game, part WWE Royal Rumble, and a whole bunch more.
Jon Hurwitz: From the beginning, our thing was it has to feel different than the All-Valley [Karate Tournament]. We wanted it to feel different. We wanted there to be different combinations. We didn’t want it just to be straight-up one-on-one fighting. So, in the [writers’] room, we talked about a lot of different ideas and it was different combinations that were often driven by the story at the end of the day. This is a character-driven show. So it was thinking about what’s going on with the characters. They needing to work together, so you’re coming up with events where they would need to work together in order to succeed. Different individual drama going on between the characters like with Demetri and Hawk, that kind of thing. And within these fights, figuring out how to incorporate things like balance with Miyagi-Do… Everything was sort of driven first and foremost through where we were with characters, but we wanted things that felt like there was an added level of danger. An added level of intensity.
We love the idea of it not just being Cobra Kai versus Miyagi-do. That was the other big thing for us. There are 16 teams here and we want you to get that flavor and feel of all these different teams from all these different countries throughout and have different fighting styles and different gis and different characters and different rivalries. So there was so much that went into it and it was definitely not one of the easier things that we’ve done in the writer’s room. There was a lot of a lot of very meticulous planning and discussions about each and every event.
io9: I’m lucky enough to have watched these episodes through twice already and I laugh, maybe harder the second time, at the hawk sound effect when Hawk is fighting. I know it’s been there before but it seems to hit harder at the Sekai Taikai. What’s the story behind having a hawk noise play when Hawk is fighting?
Hurwitz: That started in season one, right?
Josh Heald: Yeah.
Hayden Schlossberg: I thought that was an editor thing.
Heald: It was.
Schlossberg: It was never written into a script. It felt like one of the editors or something put that into one of Hawk’s moves or something and we just loved it.
Heald: I think it was when he showed his tattoo for the first time you got that sound. And he kind of punched so when he did it again and at the tournament in season one we brought it back and it became this thing that was like, “Okay he’s got his own little sound effect.” The issue is as the seasons have gone on we’ve layered orchestras on top of orchestras on top of, you know, complete choruses and sound effects and everything else So you really got to dial up that hawk sound for it to punch through.
Hurwitz: The hawk sound though—you bring up the music though, Josh—different characters obviously have different themes throughout the show musically and I think the hawk sound effect is just part of that whole taste.
io9: Next time I talk to you guys, I’ll probably have seen the last five episodes so I have to ask this question one last time. Is there any world where we build to a situation where you can fit in “You’re the Best”?
Heald: There’s always a possibility. Look, you can you can start checking off the list of things we haven’t done leading up to the last five and we haven’t done that yet. So, that that’s a possibility. And there are other possibilities. I will say everything we do is born out of an intent and everything we do is born out of a love for this story and this world and this universe. And, you know, while we’re sunsetting this series, we hope we’re not sunsetting the universe. We have a lot of plans for how we’re continuing that. So if you don’t see something in the final five episodes that you’ve really been crossing your fingers and hoping for, just rest assured it’s something that we’re hoping to have an opportunity to to revisit in the future as well.
io9: I was gonna end with that but Josh you brought it up. Any updates on how you might continue the Karate Kid universe in the future?
Schlossberg: I’m not sure if there’s going to be any updates before the final five episodes other than we’re always teasing that we’re thinking and working on things and that includes working with [Karate Kid writer and creator] Robert Mark Kamen on stuff. We just love this world and it is bittersweet for us to have to finish the show so there’s this creative urge to continue it in some fashion, but nothing official to say.
Heald: I would hope in the next few months there’ll be something official to share and talk about, but you know as of yet there’s not.
io9: There is, however, the new movie and I know you guys have nothing directly to do with that but I feel like, as Karate Kid fans, you probably have a sense of pride that your show kind of brought it back, right? I don’t think that movie would have existed five years ago without Cobra Kai. So what are your kind of thoughts on this thing that you all love now becoming popular and relevant again?
Schlossberg: Yeah, it’s awesome to see Ralph Macchio on the movie poster. We’re fans of the ’80s and to give life to this world is exciting. We’re aware of aspects of that movie, but it’s also because we were shooting Cobra Kai while they were making it, we’re just really curious about it. So there’s an element for us where we’re fans seeing materials come out for that and we can feel what fans feel, like in terms of Karate Kid content out there.
io9: Last thing before spoilers, people are going to watch these episodes, love them, and then be like, “Oh my god I still have to wait a couple months for the final five.” Give me your final best tease of how you feel about the final five and what people can expect.
Heald: Wow. We are enormously proud of what we pulled off in the final five. It is going to deliver upon every cliffhanger that we’ve set up. And it is going to go to some places that you don’t expect. I’ll just say, having watched the final five numerous times, it ramps up and then picks up a speed, a pace, a momentum that I don’t think we’ve ever done… particularly the last three. I’ll just say prepare yourselves. Hydrate. Because you’re gonna want to watch all five probably in one sitting. It’s gonna be hard to put down.
Check back soon for more from Hurwitz, Heald, and Schlossberg on all the biggest reveals and spoilers in Cobra Kai season six, part two. It’s out November 15 on Netflix.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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