Why did Cobra Kai move from YouTube to Netflix in Season 3?

Who would have thought that “Cobra Kai,” now approaching its sixth and final season, would be such a hit on Netflix today? What makes this scenario even more interesting is the fact that the “Karate Kid” spin-off didn’t start out as a series on Netflix. 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 and returned for a second season in 2019. The show that carried the story One such competitor extended his legs for high kicks and fist throws 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 axed the show in the process.

While “Cobra Kai” may have been out of bidding at the time, a bidding war soon began between the streaming services — with Netflix ultimately coming out on top in the end. Getting this creative push and Netflix’s promotion revived the creators’ initial plans to toy with the idea of ​​expanding the “Cobra Kai” universe beyond the reach of Johnny and Danny’s experimental friendship.

In a 2020 interview with /A film that discusses the possibilities of the future As for the series, “Cobra Kai” creator John Horowitz admitted that even before the third season arrived, ideas were taking shape for a spin-off of the hit series. “We thought of spinoff ideas,” Horowitz said. “We just love the world of ‘The Karate Kid,’ we love all the characters from the past and we love the characters that 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 can go through, Which we can take into consideration.”

Fast forward to 2024, and… Season 6 is a perfect showcase for the beloved Karate Kid character by Bringing Mr. Miyagi to life digitally (Pat Morita) And he made his past a focus 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 teased Hollywood Reporter. “Now that we’re done, we can start getting into these things,” said co-author Hayden Schlossberg. “We’ve just been focusing on ‘Cobra Kai’ and finishing it. Now, we’re in the process of editing the final two episodes. Once that’s done, hopefully we’ll get some exciting stuff…”

And none of this would have been possible without Netflix stepping in and saving the show.