The teaser trailer for Cobra Kai season 4 hints that the next installment will be even more ruthless and violent, thanks to the influence of Terry Silver. On May 27, 2021, Netflix uploaded a promo for the upcoming season of Cobra Kai that confirms a major fan theory: Terry Silver's return. The Cobra Kai season 3 ending set up a dojo war to be the main conflict going forward, with the cliffhanger twist of John Kreese calling an old war buddy as reinforcement. Turns out, that friend was definitely Terry Silver, and he will be the next big villain in Cobra Kai.
Terry Silver has long been expected to appear on the Karate Kid sequel series. Silver was the main villain in The Karate Kid Part III. The brief glimpse — fittingly titled "Terry Silver Returns" — shows a mysterious man with a grey ponytail, while Terry's dialogue from the movie plays. Clearly, this is meant to indicate that actor Thomas Ian Griffith will reprise the role in Cobra Kai season 4, and will fill a similar role in the main storyline as he does in Karate Kid 3 — to step in for Kreese and dial up the brutality. At the trailer's end, the text even reads "now the real pain begins."
In The Karate Kid Part III, Silver is introduced as Kreese's old friend and a wealthy businessman who founded Cobra Kai. After suffering repeated humiliating defeats, Kreese reaches out to Silver; Silver sends the disgraced sensei on vacation, and he assumes a leadership role at Cobra Kai, looking to both repair the dojo's reputation and also exact vengeance on Daniel and Mr. Miygai. Cobra Kai season 4 looks to repeat this, but with The Karate Kid 3 villain corrupting the newest generation of students — including Robbie.
The plot of The Karate Kid: Part III involves Terry Silver manipulating Daniel and Mr. Miyagi for the sake of revenge; Daniel is essentially tricked into becoming Silver's student, and his bad influence corrupts the young man in order to alienate him from his former sensei, Miygai. Eventually, Daniel sees the error of his ways, and with Miyagi's help, emerges the victor by the film's end. Still, Silver remains one of the most menacing villains of the franchise: while he shares Kreese's "no mercy" philosophy, Silver takes it further. As the Cobra Kai season 4 trailer shows, Silver previously advocated for blinding and choking one's opponent, suggesting "extreme situations require extreme measures." It's hard to overestimate the lengths he and Kreese will go to in order to "defeat" the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students.
Silver raising the stakes in the Karate Kid sequel continues the trend of the show's increasing stakes with each installment. The show began with the renewed rivalry between Daniel and Johnny, but it since exploded — first leading to the massive high school brawl in season 2, and then the LaRusso house getting trashed in season 3. Some argue that Cobra Kai season 3 took the violence too far — but based on the teaser trailer, Cobra Kai season 4 will be even more ruthless and brutal.