Cobra Kai is taking a different approach to its release plan for season 6, making the 2025 Karate Kid movie—and the future of the Miyagiverse in general—even more exciting. As the final season of the Netflix spinoff series, Cobra Kai season 6’s arrival is bittersweet. However, it has been used as a launching point for further spinoffs. Ultimately, this feels like a promise that the Miyagiverse will continue to go strong, and with the teased three-part release plan for this final Cobra Kai installment and the Karate Kid movie that will follow, there’s a great year ahead.
The Karate Kid franchise was pretty dormant for years. Though the original 1984 movie was a massive success and cult classic, the sequels didn’t strike the same chord. Then, 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, starring Hilary Swank and The Karate Kid (2010), attempted to breathe new life into the franchise, but neither did so effectively. Cobra Kai‘s release in 2018 brought the franchise back, and its success over the past five seasons has inspired a movie starring Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan. The best part is that the Cobra Kai season 6 release plan will take us to the 2025 movie.
Though Netflix released previous seasons of Cobra Kai all at once, season 6 will be different because the episodes will begin streaming gradually. The first trailer for the series final season provided the release dates and dubbed the upcoming installment a “three-part event.” It’s still unclear how many episodes will be released with each part, though it can be assumed that the 15-episode season will be split evenly into five-episode segments. Part 1 will be released on July 18th, followed by Part 2 on November 28th, and Part 3 sometime in 2025.
The reason behind Cobra Kai‘s three-part release plan for season 6 is likely the delays related to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes of 2023. The Netflix series was one of those that was in the preparation stages, which meant that production had to begin from square one when US writers and actors finally got fair deals. It’s likely that to ensure audiences didn’t have to wait too long, Netflix decided to release episodes a little as time as they produced them. Though this still requires patience for the season finale, the timing is perfect for the planned Karate Kid movie.
Though the Karate Kid movie starring Macchio and Chan was initially supposed to be released in 2024, the delays faced by Cobra Kai meant that it had to be pushed back to 2025. Now, the official release date for Karate Kid is May 30, 2025. This means a year’s wait between the movie’s official release announcement and its premiere, but it’s pretty perfect given Cobra Kai‘s release schedule. There are four months between part 1 and part 2 of Cobra Kai season 6, which means part 3 is likely to be released around March 2025—and that takes us just about to Karate Kid‘s release.
Overall, this means that Miyagiverse fans will have new content to enjoy every few months for nearly an entire year, and that’s pretty exciting. It will make the wait for Karate Kid a little more bearable, and with every installment, the anticipation and excitement will only grow. By the time the movie is finally available in May 2025, the world of The Karate Kid will feel more immersive than ever.
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As exciting as 2025’s Karate Kid is, a lot is stacked against the movie’s success. There are several films within this franchise, most of which have been unsuccessful. However, the broad approval of Cobra Kai has made it seem as if another movie might work, and the return of Macchio, as well as a beloved star like Chan, makes prospects all the more favorable. Still, director Jonathan Entwistle must remember what made Cobra Kai successful, just as the Netflix series must use its final season to give Karate Kid its best start.
Cobra Kai season 6’s release schedule feels like a step-by-step path right toward Karate Kid, and this is undoubtedly a great start to setting up the 2025 movie. However, the plot should also be used to get the ball rolling for this new story.Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso has presumably never met Chan’s Mr. Han from The Karate Kid (2010), and it would be exciting to see these characters come together before Cobra Kai comes to a close. It could go a long way if we can see this pair meet on screen, with perhaps an appearance from the new titular karate kid.