Who did John Kreese (Martin Kove) call at the end of Cobra Kai season 3? While there is an obvious answer that The Karate Kid continuation series set up throughout the third season, there are also some interesting offbeat possibilities as to who Cobra Kai's sinister sensei called to back him up in season 4.
Cobra Kai season 3 was revelatory for Kreese as it filled in his heretofore unknown origin. Kreese was introduced in 1984's The Karate Kid as the real villain of the film; he was the "bad teacher", according to Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) who drilled a twisted and brutal version of karate into his students, including Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Kreese was humiliated when Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) beat Johnny at the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, and he attacked Lawrence after the event. After Mr. Miyagi humbled Kreese, the Cobra Kai sensei was disgraced; all of his students quit, his dojo folded, and John was left destitute and desperate. In The Karate Kid Part III, Kreese attempted a comeback with his old Army buddy Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), but LaRusso foiled their elaborate master plan once again. That was the last anyone saw of Kreese until he resurfaced at the end of Cobra Kai season 1.
After he stole the Cobra Kai dojo that Johnny resurrected, Kreese has re-established himself as the uber-villain of the entire Karate Kid/Cobra Kai saga. He twisted his new generation of Cobra Kai to be even more violent than before, but Kreese also has more opposition than he has faced in the past. By the end of Cobra Kai season 3's finale, "December 19", Daniel and Johnny, who have been rivals for 35 years, actually put aside their differences and combined their dojos in order to stop Kreese once and for all. A former Special Forces soldier, Kreese outsmarted and outmaneuvered LaRusso and Lawrence all by his lonesome throughout Cobra Kai. But now that Johnny, his best former student teamed up with Daniel, his worst enemy, Kreese recognizes that he needs someone to watch his back as well.
The identity of who is on the other end of Kreese's climactic phone call seems cut-and-dry. However, Cobra Kai has also become adept at swerving the audience and delivering fan service moments that are unexpected. So, while there is certainly an obvious person Kreese is very likely calling, the following options could also spin Cobra Kai season 4 in some unexpected and fascinating directions.
Terry Silver
It's all but certain that Kreese called his old friend Terry Silver at the end of Cobra Kai season 3. Not only was Kreese gazing fondly at an old photo of their younger selves in Vietnam, but John's tone on the phone was uncharacteristically warm and friendly. Terry on the other end of the line makes perfect sense; The Karate Kid Part III established that they're both cut from the same cloth and Silver has a warm spot in his black heart and unwavering loyalty to "Johnny".
Cobra Kai season 3's flashbacks established that Terry was once a skinny, hapless grunt in Kreese's Vietnam Army unit under the cruel Captain Turner (Terry Serpico) who everyone called "Twig". Kreese saved Silver's life when they were POWs and he fought and killed Turner in Terry's stead, which earned him Silver's loyalty for "your whole life". And Terry meant it; back in the USA, Silver became a millionaire head of a seedy corporation called Dyna-Tox, and he financed Kreese's Cobra Kai venture. In The Karate Kid Part III, Silver poured even more money and resources into his insane revenge against Daniel and Miyagi, with the end goal being Cobra Kai dojos proliferating all over the San Fernando Valley.
Terry Silver hasn't been heard from since The Karate Kid Part III and it's unknown if he's still a high-powered CEO who makes money violating all manner of environmental laws. However, Silver is certainly someone longtime Karate Kid fans want to see in Cobra Kai. Kreese and Silver were as close as brothers and, if they still are, it would be a fascinating contrast to Daniel and Johnny's oil-and-water truce in Cobra Kai season 4.
Mike Barnes
In lieu of Terry Silver, Kreese could have also called The Karate Kid Part III's other villain, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan). Known as "Karate's Bad Boy", Barnes was literally hand-picked from a karate magazine by Terry Silver. A hired gun whose only goal was to beat Daniel LaRusso at the All Valley Tournament, Barnes was a violent bully who also tormented and physically assaulted LaRusso and Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively) until Daniel signed the contract to face him at the All Valley.
While Barnes was indeed the superior fighter, he followed Terry and Kreese's unsportsmanlike instructions to the letter during the All Valley and ended up being humiliated and defeated by LaRusso. It's unknown what happened to Barnes after that, although the Cobra Kai dojo received a lifetime ban from the tournament until Johnny Lawrence got it reversed in Cobra Kai season 1. It's quite likely Mike Barnes is still a villain 30 years later and he'd probably welcome a chance to get long-awaited revenge on Daniel if Kreese calls.
Colonel Dugan And The Alpha Elite
It would be wild if Kreese knew The Next Karate Kid's villain, Colonel Paul Dugan (Michael Ironside), and contacted him to join Cobra Kai season 4. Dugan is an ex-Army vet who led an ROTC club called the Alpha Elite at the Boston high school attended by Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank). While not a karate expert, Dugan was obviously The Next Karate Kid's stand-in for Kreese and the Alpha Elite were the film's substitute for Cobra Kai.
Since they're both Army vets, it would make a perverse but convenient amount of sense if Kreese and Dugan had a history together dating back to Vietnam. Dugan is not only a sadistic megalomaniac, but, like Kreese, he also knew how to manipulate the police to look the other way from the Alpha Elite's crimes. Dugan arriving in Cobra Kai would be quite a Karate Kid supervillain team-up, but the Colonel and Captain Kreese also share something else in common: both were humiliated in a fight by Mr. Miyagi.
Stingray
While it's unlikely that Kreese called Raymond AKA Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) - after all, John said "Long time..." on the phone and it's only been three months since Stingray vanished after the West Valley High Brawl - Cobra Kai's oldest student is probably still totally loyal to Sensei Kreese. Stingray also has a court order banning him from coming near kids after he posed as a security guard and attacked teenagers half his age at the end of Cobra Kai season 2, but if he does come back, Stingray would return to the black and yellow dojo before he would try to join up with Miyagi-Do or Eagle Fang Karate.
Julie Pierce
This would be a real heartbreaker, but Karate Kid fans have been clamoring for The Next Karate Kid's heroine, Julie Pierce, who is the last major movie main character holdout, to finally appear in Cobra Kai. So what if Julie does make her long-awaited Cobra Kai debut - as a villain on the side of Kreese? This would be a real coup by Kreese, to have the other student of Mr. Miyagi on Cobra Kai's side. Further, fans know nothing about how Julie turned out after she trained and lived with Mr. Miyagi in 1994, so it's possible Julie didn't turn out as well as LaRusso. A villainous Julie Pierce who twisted Miyagi's teachings and allied with John Kreese would be an unexpected and mind-blowing twist to Cobra Kai season 4.