The former YouTube Red series Cobra Kai is finally getting the audience it deserves after moving to Netflix. The show serves as a sequel to the classic Karate Kid movie franchise, reuniting the film's two lead actors along with a fresh perspective on their characters' karate-driven rivalry.
Central to the series is the personal clash between Johnny Lawrence, the karate teacher at the Cobra Kai dojo, and Daniel LaRusso, the ex-karate champion and automobile magnate. But going back to its roots, Cobra Kai also revolves around several coming-of-age subplots for its teenage characters. As we wait for new seasons, here are some other series to watch after Cobra Kai.
Updated on March 8th, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: Cobra Kai continues to be a fun and nostalgic series that continues The Karate Kid saga with a lot of the same actors appearing from the original movies. The new series is fun as a continuation or a standalone as it follows Johnny Lawrence trying to figure out his life by bringing back the Cobra Kai dojo and training new students while Daniel LaRusso tries to stop him and his old sensei John Kreese returns. It's a fun series full of laughs that also has family and teen drama, and it approaches martial arts with some great fight scenes throughout.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a nostalgic series about a group of super powered teenagers using their powers to fight evil. The long-running series is full of fight scenes, teen drama, and nostalgia that any fan of Cobra Kai would most likely enjoy.
Cobra Kai partly focuses on teen characters who know how to fight and stand up against evil forces although it's not as over-the-top as Power Rangers, it's still a series for Cobra Kai fans to enjoy if they haven't already.
Jackie Chan Adventures
Jackie Chan is known for his choreographed fight scenes and stunts in live-action movies, but he lends his voice to this animated series that ran for 5 seasons.
The series followed Jackie Chan and his niece as the two search for magical artifacts and fight evil forces. The series sees Chan as an archeologist who is also a martial arts expert. He gets help from his niece and wise uncle in this adventurous series.
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series ran for 6 seasons in the 1990s and although it had a science-fiction edge to it there's still enough fighting and good and evil for any fan of Cobra Kai to enjoy.
The series follows the immortal Duncan MacLeod who can only be killed by decapitation. MacLeod risks his life to save and defend good people even though he has seen how terrible humanity can be during his hundreds of years on earth.
Kung Fu
Kung Fu was a 1970s martial arts western that has become a cult classic series since it aired for 3 seasons. The series melded both the western and martial arts genre as it followed a Shaolin monk and martial-arts expert named Caine who flees China after his master is murdered.
The series follows Caine as he travels the Old West in America defending helpless people against various bad guys. Caine is also trying to evade bounty hunters and looking for his half-brother throughout the series as he fights for good.
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother as a series itself isn't similar to Cobra Kai, but for any fan of the two Karate Kid/Cobra Kai leads Ralph Macchio and William Zabka the later seasons are worth checking out. Both of them appear in one episode, Season 8 Episode 22, as the gang throws Barney a bachelor party.
Barney believes that Johnny Lawrence was the real karate kid and hilariously William Zabka and Ralph Macchio appear as fictionalized versions of themselves in the series to react to Barney's opinion. Zabka appears in several other episodes in Season 9 of the series as he and Barney become friends and the audience gets a look into his life as fans hate him for being the bully in the original Karate Kid movies.
Kingdom
Instead of karate, this gritty drama focuses on the world of mixed martial arts. Frank Grillo plays Alvey Kulina, a retired MMA fighter who runs his own training gym. Just like Cobra Kai lead Johnny, Kulina is a troubled character who must deal with his own personal family troubles while leading his students to victory.
The show is filled with enough MMA action to engage viewers with the right amount of melodrama. It's also interesting to note that one of the main cast members is singer Nick Jonas, who plays one of Kulina's sons.
Kickin' It
This Disney show deals with a martial arts dojo with a less-than-stellar reputation and the efforts of its sensei to train a bunch of underdogs. Jason Earles (Hannah Montana) plays the role of goofy sensei Rudy as he tries to whip the aimless youngsters into shape.
While the show isn't a realistic portrayal of martial arts by any means, Kickin' It still respects the art of combat fighting and serves as a feel-good show aimed at younger audiences.
Black Dynamite
Inspired by the film of the same name, Black Dynamite is an adult-oriented animated action-comedy. While the show relies on the tones of the film, including taking a satirical look at racism and other social issues, it isn't a direct follow-up or continuation.
With Michael Jai White reprising the lead role of an ex-CIA agent and vigilante, the show makes use of its blaxploitation influences and action movie tropes. While fighting some evil kung-fu masters involved in his brother's death, the titular character picks up martial arts and uses it to unleash stylish vengeance on his goofy enemies.
Wu Assassins
Starring Iko Uwais (The Raid), this show is a treat for fans of martial arts television and film. Uwais plays a chef who gets involved with the Triad gangs of San Francisco after obtaining an ancient power known as Wu Xing. It's revealed that he's the latest "Wu Assassin," a title passed on over the generations to various chosen heroes.
The rest of the show involves the Wu Assassin dealing with criminals who hold similar powers, but are using them for their own vile means. While Wu Assassins occasionally falls victim to tired genre cliches, it's fueled with enough combat to keep viewers engaged.
Into The Badlands
Into The Badlands follows a warrior and his young student in a journey through a post-apocalyptic feudal land called the Badlands. On their quest to master the art of fighting, the two also seek spiritual enlightenment while encountering barons and nobles, each with their own selfish intentions.
Even though it ran for only three seasons, the show was a major step forward for depicting martial arts on television while avoiding the usual cliches or caricatures inherent in the genre. It was also a positive step towards representation by casting Hong Kong industry legend Daniel Wu as the lead.
Seis Manos
Seis Manos deals with a group of orphans adopted by a martial arts master who trains them in the art of fighting. However, after he gets murdered, the orphans take it upon themselves to seek revenge, dragging them into a web of mysteries involving drug cartels and demonic cults.
Seis Manos is, without a doubt, one of the finest adult animated shows currently available on streaming. It pays tribute to the low-budget kung-fu movies of the past while building upon an edgy, gripping story of its own.
Fightworld
Featuring Frank Grillo from the aforementioned Kingdom, this docu-series finds the actor touring the globe to understand different fighting styles from across the world. The show does a great job at respecting the various cultures it covers and giving the spotlight to the various practitioners committed to their style of combat sports.
Covering Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and several localized styles of kickboxing and boxing, the show also helps audiences understand how martial arts extends beyond fighting and influences other aspects of life in various cultures.
Warrior
Warrior is an action-filled drama starring Andrew Koji as Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy from China who arrives at San Francisco in the 1870s to find his lost sister— only to get involved with criminal factions.
This show is a must-watch for fans of cult martial arts cinema as well as Bruce Lee, as it was initially a brainchild of the late martial arts legend. Finally, decades later, Warrior honors his legacy while holding its own as a modern action series, and it's easy to assume Lee would've been proud of the end result.
Ip Man
While Ip Man is best known as a film series starring martial arts icon Donnie Yen, this TV version with Kevin Cheng playing the real life martial artist is also worth checking out.
The show elaborates on the life and struggles of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the traditional Chinese kung-fu style known as Wing Chun— which he would eventually pass on to his most famous student, Bruce Lee This Chinese-language drama is surely a romanticized depiction of the legendary teacher's life, but succeeds with the right kind of melodrama needed to spice up a biography.
Fight Quest
An original series by Discovery channel, Fight Quest sees hosts/MMA fighters Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson travel the world and interact with local martial arts masters.
After spending about a week training with them, the two hosts demonstrate what they learned while taking on the masters' students to see if they're able to beat them at their own style. For those who are interested in reality shows with a dramatic flair, Fight Quest makes for good, action-packed entertainment.