Cobra Kai shows that the proposed Undisputed TV series should be given the green light, and that Scott Adkins should return as Yuri Boyka. An Undisputed TV show was first announced back in 2019, with director Isaac Florentine set to return, but Adkins has since pumped the breaks on the excitement that the announcement generated, making clear that it's currently still a hypothetical. Adkins has also emphasized that he's adamant about reprising the role of Boyka if it moves forward, as he should be - after three incredible performances as The Most Complete Fighter in the World, recasting Boyka at this point would be a complete deal breaker, but that still leaves the question of whether the Undisputed series will move ahead.
With its own success on Netflix, Cobra Kai makes a very compelling argument that it should. Beginning on YouTube Red in 2018, Cobra Kai has become an out-and-out phenomenon since its move to Netflix. Cobra Kai's popularity is such that one would be hard pressed to believe that the Karate Kid series hadn't spent decades in hibernation, or that it had been rebooted with 2010's Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith-led The Karate Kid. Cobra Kai's upcoming season 4 was even announced before its third hit Netflix, testimony to the popularity it has accumulated.
Cobra Kai also has more in common with the Undisputed franchise than one might guess. Sure, the MMA-driven series is much more ruthless in its fight scenes and profanity than The Karate Kid ever was, but that chasm is considerably more narrow in Cobra Kai's case (and in some places even non-existent). More importantly, though, Cobra Kai's success also has produced an unexpected offshoot, with the show being proof positive that the Undisputed TV series should be allowed to get rolling, and that no one but Scott Adkins should be portraying The Most Complete Fighter in the World.
Cobra Kai And Undisputed Share Similar Beginnings
Three seasons in and with a fourth on the way, Cobra Kai has continued The Karate Kid film series for an entire generation of viewers who hadn't even been born when the movies first debuted. Those already intimately familiar with Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso's story know where it all began, but Cobra Kai has brought an old and widely loved martial arts movie series into a new life in modern times. That last point is important, as that's a major characteristic that the Undisputed series would share with it.
Getting off to a quiet start with the 2002 boxing movie Undisputed, the franchise got a major overhaul with Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, shifting gears to MMA and making Boyka its central character, even if he was starting off as an antagonist. Undisputed 3: Redemption and Boyka: Undisputed later followed, with the series being cemented as a classic MMA saga and Boyka becoming Scott Adkins' signature role. The Most Complete Fighter in the World making the leap from movies to an episodic format is already an enthralling concept in the age of streaming, and even better is the fact that Cobra Kai has already laid out the blueprint for that.
Cobra Kai Shows What A Change In Format Can Do
As a streaming series, Cobra Kai shifts the storytelling structure of The Karate Kid films from the parameters of a movie to an episode-by-episode layout, and it does so spectacularly well. Trading up the format from movies to a TV series necessarily means that Cobra Kai tells its story more gradually, and also designs its fight and training scenes to accommodate this, but the streaming sensation that it has become shows that viewers are having no trouble adjusting - and, if anything, are loving having that much more material to absorb along new characters like Miguel Diaz and Aisha Robinson. There's every reason to think that the Undisputed series would adapt just as easily, especially with Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine returning.
Frankly, even setting aside Cobra Kai, some of the best martial arts entertainment of the last few years has being seen in TV series form. Into the Badlands, Wu Assassins, and Warrior rival the action scenes of any movie released in theaters. Adkins has also made his name known not only in the Undisputed films, but the Ninja movies, Avengement, Triple Threat, and many other action movies that skipped theaters altogether and went straight-to-video, and which similarly put many theatrical action flicks to shame. At this point, viewers are more than accustomed to seeing Adkins on televisions, computer screens, and tablets. With Cobra Kai already setting the stage for a gear shift from movie to TV show format, Undisputed is well poised to do the same trick just as efficiently.
Cobra Kai Starts A New Story (As Undisputed Would)
The real trick that Cobra Kai pulls off is that it begins a new story in its franchise that isn't overly dependent on viewers having seen The Karate Kid movies. Sure, Cobra Kai makes plenty of callbacks, brings back old characters like John Kreese, and revives the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel, but the essence of the show is a continuation of the movies that it was born from that also stands on its own. Haven't seen the Karate Kid movies? Cobra Kai has you covered, getting viewers up to date on the bad blood between Johnny and Daniel in no time, and getting straight to the meat and potatoes the second the table is set. The Undisputed series can do the same, and can even augment Cobra Kai's strategy just a little.
The story of the Undisputed series (excluding the first installment) is one of Boyka wanting to prove himself The Most Complete Fighter in the World, and having to learn the humility that comes with that journey along with redeeming himself of his past crimes. By the end of Boyka: Undisputed, he's accomplished both. Though he ends up sacrificing his freedom to save the widow of an opponent he accidentally killed, the final scene in prison of Boyka preparing for his next match completes his arc, having finally earned the title he's sought. His journey in the films has ended, but another can now begin, with Boyka finally diving right into the MMA world, wise and tempered by his experiences but still the greatest fighter alive. Like Cobra Kai, the Undisputed TV series could close one book and start another, with Boyka beginning his life anew - now truly The Most Complete Fighter in the World.
Rarely has the case for dusting off a long dormant franchise been made as more convincingly as by the the massive streaming hit that Cobra Kai has become. Fans of the film series it follows from and new viewers alike have welcomed it with open arms, and it also throws a surprising endorsement behind another franchise's possible transition from movies to TV. The success of Cobra Kai demonstrates that the Undisputed TV series with Scott Adkins returning as Yuri Boyka could very well be another martial arts streaming smash just waiting to be unleashed.