Cobra Kai season 5's big Karate Kid cameos explained
Here's where you last saw those returning cast members in the franchise. **Warning: Season 5 spoilers**
In season 5 of Cobra Kai, the past continues to haunt LaRusso and the martial artists of the Valley.
After all, the big bad is Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who also antagonised LaRusso throughout The Karate Kid Part III – and he’s not the only one returning from the third film in the trilogy.
There are a few assorted cameos in the Netflix show, like the appearance of former UFC fighters Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson as Silver’s new allies, while NWA wrestler Luke Hawx also appears halfway through the season.
However, for long-time fans of the Karate Kid franchise, there are two big cameos that need to be discussed. Here's everything you need to know about the characters.
Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan)
Joining the fray this season is yet another Cobra Kai alum - Mike Barnes, the “bad boy of karate”. A puppet of Kreese and Silver in The Karate Kid Part III, he was their main hope for regaining the championship title and showing the dominance of Cobra Kai once and for all.
In the lead-up to the All Valley championship, Barnes and his crew also terrorised LaRusso and his friend Jessica, going so far as to nearly drop them off a cliff. In the end, the young LaRusso just about defeats Barnes in a sudden death round after being pummelled by him for most of the fight.
As we meet him in Cobra Kai, his life is much different. His days of karate and being a terror seem to be over. Instead, he runs a furniture store with his wife and seems very content - at least until the drama of the current season comes to find him.
Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively)
Another star of the last movie of the trilogy also makes an appearance this season, Lively reprises her role and is well beyond those teenage days dating Daniel LaRusso. When we first saw her character 33 years ago, she was being terrorised by Barnes alongside LaRusso, so it’s interesting that she and her former bully are back in the new season.
Her appearance in Cobra Kai bears some similarity to Ali’s (Elisabeth Shue) cameo where she gave some moral support at the exact right time. This time, Jessica is giving the support to Amanda as the episode reveals that the pair are actually cousins. After the episode, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be seeing more of Jessica but who knows what the future holds?
Cobra Kai is a show that has repeatedly brought back characters from the franchise and managed to fold them into the story in interesting ways, so the question going into a (not yet announced) potential season 6 is – who is there left to bring back? But until then, you can watch all 5 seasons of Cobra Kai on Netflix now.
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Cobra Kai seasons 1-5 are available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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