Television series

Cobra Kai

Name: Cobra Kai
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Action
Released: 2018
Cast: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Courtney Henggeler

Cobra Kai revives the Karate Kid saga thirty years on, turning a nostalgic gag into a genuinely soapy, funny, big-hearted drama about grudges that never really die. It stacks teen-drama tournament arcs on midlife-crisis comedy and plays both completely straight and completely ridiculous at once. Great for anyone who wants escalating, easy-going fun with real stakes underneath the mullets.

TVMaze rating

7.2

If you liked this

The Karate Kid1984

This is the film Cobra Kai spends six seasons arguing with — Daniel's underdog triumph and Johnny's humiliation both happen here, and knowing the wound makes every callback land twice as hard.

But It's slower, gentler and far less plot-dense than the show it spawned — pure 80s underdog cinema, no soap opera.

Creed2015

Rocky's mentor becomes the student in a legacy sequel that does exactly what Cobra Kai does — ages its hero into a coach, then asks what he owes the next generation.

But It's a straight boxing drama with real stakes and grief, not the tournament-arc comfort food Cobra Kai offers.

GLOW2017

Same Netflix DNA — a scrappy underdog ensemble, big 80s hair, warring egos and a sport used as a stage for people's whole messed-up lives, played for laughs and heart in equal measure.

But It's wrestling, not karate, and its comedy leans raunchier and more melancholy than Cobra Kai ever gets.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

This Is England2007

Cobra Kai's whole premise is that a broken man gives troubled teenagers belonging and purpose through a rigid, aggressive code — This Is England tells the same story dead straight, showing exactly how that belonging can curdle into something dangerous.

A lonely, bullied kid finds a surrogate family and a code of honour among a charismatic older crowd — the exact emotional engine Cobra Kai runs on, except here the dojo is a skinhead gang.

But It's a serious, sometimes brutal British social-realist drama with real violence and racism, not a fun tournament arc.

Warrior2011

Two estranged brothers, one abusive father, one cage-fighting tournament — it's the Lawrence-LaRusso rivalry reimagined as tragedy, with the same slow-build structure paying off in the ring.

But It's heavier and sadder than anything Cobra Kai attempts, with none of the show's jokes to cut the tension.

Ted Lasso2020

For the softer, sunnier version of Cobra Kai's redemption arc — a wounded man coaching kids toward decency, dressed up as workplace comedy instead of martial arts drama.

But There's no fighting or tournament stakes at all — the drama is entirely emotional, and football is barely the point.

Stranger Things2016

If it's the 80s nostalgia and scrappy-kids-vs-the-world energy you're here for, this delivers it in a completely different genre — supernatural horror instead of karate, same wounded-outsider heart.

But It's a sprawling sci-fi horror epic with none of the martial arts or tournament structure that anchors Cobra Kai.

The Karate Kid Part II1986no page yet

Takes Daniel and Mr. Miyagi to Okinawa and widens the moral universe the whole franchise runs on — honour, restraint, and what happens when old grudges follow you home.

But It's the weaker sequel by most accounts, more travelogue than tournament, and slower than the show that followed it.

Freaks and Geeks1999

For the teen side of Cobra Kai stripped of karate and melodrama — cliques, humiliation, first loves, and the exact high-school social warfare the show dresses up as martial arts.

But One season, cancelled decades ago, bittersweet in tone rather than triumphant like the show it echoes.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin1978no page yet

Every training montage, every 'earn your belt' beat in Cobra Kai traces back to this film's chamber-by-chamber structure — it's the grandfather of the exact mentor-student mechanics the show still leans on.

The training montage as we know it starts here — a Shaw Brothers classic where a student's brutal, methodical rise through a temple's ranks invented the mentor-disciple structure Cobra Kai still runs on decade after decade.

But It's a 45-year-old Hong Kong kung fu film with dated effects, no romance subplot, and zero comic relief.

Ping Pong The Animation2014

Swap karate for table tennis and teenage soap for existential melancholy and you get the same rival-turned-friend, sport-as-self-discovery skeleton Cobra Kai builds every season on — just filtered through a completely different genre and medium.

A gorgeous, strange anime about two childhood-friend rivals on a table tennis team, asking hard questions about talent, effort and what winning actually costs — the tournament arc Cobra Kai loves, taken deadly seriously.

But It's eleven episodes of anime with an unusual art style and a moody, introspective tone — a big swing away from Cobra Kai's brightness.