Cobra Kai‘s Karate Kid movies reunion tour will continue in Season 5, with Sean Kanan set to reprise his role as Part III’s villainous Mike Barnes.
Kanan’s long-wished-for casting was confirmed in a first flurry of Season 5 photos (below), which also highlight new addition Alicia Hannah-Kim’s (Minx) Kim Da-Eun, a formidable South Korean sensei who factors into Terry Silver’s plans for accelerating Cobra Kai’s expansion.
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A new teaser trailer was also released; watch it at TUDUM.
Daytime-TV vet Kanan’s arrival was very quietly hinted at in one of Season 4’s closing moments, when Silver (played by Thomas Ian Griffith) said to a jail-bound Kreese (Martin Kove), “I’ll call a couple old Cobra Kai buddies to help out while you’re gone.”
Following the outcome of Season 4’s All Valley Tournament, Silver is expanding the Cobra Kai empire and trying to make his “No Mercy” style of karate the only game in town. With Kreese behind bars and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) setting karate aside to focus on repairing the damage he’s caused, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) calls on an old friend for help — former adversary Chozen Toguchi, again played by Karate Kid Part II‘s Yuji Okumoto.
Chozen was last seen in the Season 4 finale, bowing at Mr. Miyagi’s grave alongside Daniel. In a previous Season 5 teaser, when Terry tells Daniel that he’s playing with fire, Chozen warns Silver: “And I am gasoline.”.
Teasing Season 5’s evolving alliances, Cobra Kai executive producers Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg said in a statement, “As Terry Silver calls upon some old friends to put the Valley in a stranglehold, Daniel and Johnny are going to need all the help they can get to stop Cobra Kai in its tracks.”
The returning cast for Season 5 — which releases all 10 episodes to Netflix on Friday, Sept. 9 — also includes Courtney Henggeler (as Amanda LaRusso), Xolo Maridueña (Miguel Diaz), Tanner Buchanan (Robby Keene), Mary Mouser (Samantha LaRusso), Jacob Bertrand (Hawk), Gianni Decenzo (Demetri), Vanessa Rubio (Carmen), Peyton List (Tory), Dallas Dupree Young (Kenny), Oona O’Brien (Devon) and Griffin Santopietro (Anthony).
Check out the new photos above and below and hit Comments with your thoughts on Mike Barnes’ encore. And if you want scoop on Cobra Kai, email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
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