Karate Kid sequel series reuniting Ralph Macchio, William Zabka

Karate Kid: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka land sequel series

The Karate Kid is now a man.

Ralph Macchio, who first played Daniel LaRusso in 1984’s The Karate Kid, is set to reprise his role in a sequel series for YouTube Red titled Cobra Kai — and his on-screen rival, William Zabka, will be joining him for the ride as Johnny Lawrence.

The half-hour comedy received a straight-to-series order with 10 episodes of Cobra Kai, set 30 years after the original film. In this next chapter of the saga, Johnny is down on his luck and re-opens the Cobra Kai dojo on his search for redemption. This puts him at odds with Daniel, who, though successful, is trying to find balance in his life without Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita, who died in 2005).

Remember this infamous moment at the All Valley Karate Tournament? They have a lot to work through.

Hot Tub Time Machine‘s Josh Heald will write the script with Harold and Kumar‘s Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, while the latter duo will direct a chunk of Cobra Kai. The trio will also executive-produce with Macchio and Zabka, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which was first to report the news

“Like everyone who grew up in the 1980s, the three of us are enormous fans of The Karate Kid ,” Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg said in a joint statement. “Cobra Kai will be a true continuation of the original films — packed with comedy, heart, and thrilling fight scenes. We can’t wait to reignite the LaRusso-Lawrence rivalry, and we’re thankful to our partners at YouTube Red, Sony Pictures Television, and Overbrook for their shared enthusiasm in making our dream project a reality.”

“If The Karate Kid was Daniel’s story, Cobra Kai is equal parts Daniel and Johnny’s story,” Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s Global Head of Original Content, told THR. “Also because this is a series and not a movie, we really wanted to reimagine how the story was told. Changing the name made sense as part of that.”