BNP At NYCC 2018: ‘Cobra Kai’ Round Table Interview

There are reboots of your favorite shows and movies everywhere now. When it comes to  revitalizing nostalgia that shaped your childhood, it’s always going to be hit or miss. Cobra Kai came out the gate with a very grounded and unique take that isn’t a reboot of the Karate Kid franchise but a continuation of the story. There’s something to be said for when your nostalgia gets brought back to the forefront in the present day and is handled correctly. We got to be at the round table interview with some of the cast and executive producers of Cobra Kai for Comic-Con this year (2018), and it felt like reconnecting with old friends. When asked about returning to the character of Johnny Lawrence (the blueprint for the 80’s movie bullies), William Zabka described it as, “an ex coming back to say I love you, and let’s try again but you don’t know if they are full of shit.” However, once he, “knew the people behind it were on board, it felt real.” Cobra Kai is a story that’s heavily grounded in reality as well, having been set years later in the future to see where everyone is at in their lives. We now get to see the flip. Zabka talked about how he hadn’t envisioned the future for Johnny quite like as we see in Cobra Kai. “I didn’t imagine him being alone and being a handyman when revisiting him.” Yet at the heart of the matter, Zabka was able to recognize that Johnny Lawrence, “is still an x-degenerate fighting through it.” In Cobra Kai, there are multiple perspectives that give depth …