Ralph Macchio is right about the Johnny vs. Daniel dynamic being too perfect to solve in Cobra Kai. Macchio stars as Daniel LaRusso in the show, a role he originated in 1984's The Karate Kid, where he initially met his rival, Johnny Lawrence, as played by William Zabka. In that film, both Daniel and Johnny bully one another to the point that their rivalry is set up to be settled at the All-Valley Karate Tournament, with Daniel being trained by his newfound sensei, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and Johnny being trained by his Cobra Kai sensei, John Creese (Martin Kove). While Daniel defeated Johnny at the tournament, seemingly ending their dispute, Cobra Kai picks up that rivalry some 35 years later, which finds both characters, now adults, continuing to struggle with their differences as they attempt to create their own karate schools.
Cobra Kai has been running for three seasons, with season 4 set to drop on New Year's Eve 2021, propelling the story of Daniel and Johnny even further. Previous seasons have seen the two confront each other, sometimes leading to fights, sometimes leading to verbal disputes, and almost always ending on a bitter (or bittersweet) note. With both characters now being parents with teenage kids involved in karate, the legacy of the Johnny vs. Daniel rivalry continues not only with them, but with their offspring. Cobra Kai season 3 saw both Daniel's Miyagi-Do dojo and Johnny's newly-formed Eagle Fang karate joining forces to take on their shared enemy, Cobra Kai (which was taken over by former sensei, Creese), at the All-Valley Karate Tournament.
With Cobra Kai season 4 sure to heat up the rivalry and challenge both Johnny and Daniel in ways they've never encountered, Macchio has said that "it's a fun journey to play as well as experience as a viewer" in a recent interview with Screen Rant. He's correct, in that the rivalry between the characters, as well as the moments when they connect and see eye-to-eye, is the type of drama that makes the show worth watching and keeps viewers on their toes. Each time that a resolution feels at hand, the differences between the characters gets in the way, forcing the two to be enemies once more.
Showrunner Hayden Schlossberg calls them the Ross and Rachel of Cobra Kai, likening them to the on-again-off-again characters from Friends. This "entertainment factor", as Macchio calls it, is what creates the perfect drama and tensity that surrounds the show, as it simply wouldn't exist if the characters always got along. "As soon as they break up, we want them together," Macchio said, which is exactly what viewers hinge on from episode-to-episode and season-to-season.
One of the many things to resurface years after Johnny and Daniel's rivalry began the original The Karate Kid, was the implication that Daniel was as much a bully as Johnny, seeing as he would instigate trouble as much as Johnny did. Upon reflection, this theory holds a lot of weight and shows the imperfections of both characters, making it more of a gray-area dynamic than a black-and-white one of good guy vs. bad guy. In essence, both characters are coming from a place of wanting to do good, but they both come from exceptionally different backgrounds that inform how they achieve their goals, which are quite different from one another, yet often the same as well.
Johnny's no-mercy style of Cobra Kai training has led to a more abrasive personality, whereas Daniel's tutelage informed a more peaceful and mindful approach, giving him a greater control of his emotions. However, both Daniel and Johnny are also similar in many ways, with their personalities often bleeding into one another, even if they're both too hard-headed to see it. Daniel can be more like Johnny and Johnny can be more like Daniel, which shows not only their flaws and differences, but their similarities and struggles as rivals, friends, parents, and sensei's. This dynamic is the life blood of Cobra Kai, a perfect blend of dramatic tension that isn't a problem to be solved, but a journey of ups and downs to endure, learn from, and, finally, to enjoy as an audience.