Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 5Young Johnny Lawrence cameos in Cobra Kai season 5 just as William Zabka appeared in 1984's The Karate Kid, but the actor didn't portray his younger self. Cobra Kai season 5 picks up soon after the ending of season 4. Johnny has shut down Eagle Fang Karate in order to focus on uniting his sons, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) because he has a baby on the way with Miguel's mother, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio). Meanwhile, John Kreese (Martin Kove) rots in prison after being framed for the attempted murder of Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) by Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith).

Kreese is out of the picture for most of Cobra Kai season 5's main conflict between Terry Silver and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), but the old sensei remains integral to the show and its future. John was targeted by the prison's inmates but the wily former Vietnam veteran turned the tables and subjugated his tormentors. But more important to Kreese was manipulating the prison's psychologist into granting him early parole. When John's attempt failed, he was forced to confront his deep trauma for the first time, and it manifested in revealing conversations with key figures of Kreese's past like Betsy (Emily Marie Palmer), the love of his life who died in a car accident while he was overseas, Captain Turner (Terry Serpico), and, of course, Terry Silver. But the most important of Kreese's visions was Johnny Lawrence, both the present-day man and the boy he was in The Karate Kid.

Related: How Cobra Kai Avoided A Major Season 5 Villain Problem

The young Johnny Lawrence who appears in Cobra Kai season 5, episode 6, "Ouroboros," is played by Logan Coffey. The 28-year-old Los Angeles-based actor has appeared in STARZ's Gaslit starring Julia Robert and Hollywood on Netflix. Coffey is also a SoulCycle instructor in LA. However, Coffey is unrecognizable in Cobra Kai season 5 because he convincingly appears as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid. Sporting Lawrence's trademark red Cobra Kai jacket, blond bangs, and headband, CGI turned Coffey into the spitting image of 1984-era Johnny. The effect is startlingly convincing, especially when the scene cuts back to the present-day Johnny played by William Zabka.

Why Cobra Kai Is Really All About Johnny For Kreese

Johnny 1984 Cobra Kai Season 5

Cobra Kai used Kreese's isolation in prison to plumb the deep recesses of the sensei's twisted psyche. We learn that John is so far gone that he feels no remorse or regret for any of his actions, and he places all blame on his enemies, especially Terry Silver. But along with Tory Nichols (Peyton List), the crucial person that Kreese truly has affection for is Johnny Lawrence. Kreese firmly believes his Cobra Kai methods were always about making kids stronger and "better" than he is, but Johnny remains the "kid" he's most fixated on. No matter how much Lawrence rejects him and wants nothing to do with his old sensei, Kreese will always regard Johnny as the son he never had.

Even though Johnny was an integral part of how Daniel and the Miyagi-Do students took down Terry Silver in Cobra Kai season 5's finale, Kreese remains a threat to Lawrence and his blended family. John ingeniously engineers a prison break and is in the wild by the end of Cobra Kai season 5, and he's no doubt coming for Johnny in some shape or form. Although Daniel vs. Johnny's conflict is what Cobra Kai was built on, there's too much unfinished business between Johnny and Kreese from when they were sensei and student in The Karate Kid.

Cobra Kai Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.