“Be the biggest douche of all time”: William Zabka’s One Condition To Return as Johnny Lawrence in Cobra Kai Nearly 30 Years After The Karate Kid Part III

The Karate Kid franchise is one of the oldest franchises that has maintained its popularity since its inception in 1984. From a somewhat simple story about a young boy who wanted to learn karate to protect himself, the show has transformed into a multigenerational story that still attracts millions of viewers.

Cobra Kai flipped the original narrative by telling the story of Johnny Lawrence, the antagonist of the original The Karate Kid movie, played by William Zabka. However, apart from some behind-the-scenes stories, Zabka recently shared a condition that he made before his return after almost 30 years.

William Zabka’s Condition to Return as Johnny Lawrence

Taking Johnny Lawrence from the history of The Karate Kid and turning him into the protagonist of Cobra Kai is probably one of the best story arcs on television. Interestingly, in the original movies, William Zabka played a privileged bully, whose life was changed after being defeated by Ralph Macchio’s character, Daniel LaRusso, in the All-Valley tournament.

It wasn’t easy to bring back Lawrence. The creators first pitched the idea to Zabka before they went to Macchio. In a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Zabka said,

I never imagined re-playing this character again after this many years. You know, I thought maybe we could spoof them or do a satire or something like that, but to actually play Johnny Lawrence… Anyway, they said, “Are you in? Are you out?” I said, “I’m in.”

However, Zabka had conditions for reprising the role. He revealed his necessary requirement to be on the show, saying,

One of my things that I said was, “You know, listen, I don’t want to, at the end of the show, take the proverbial crane kick to the face and be the biggest douche of all time.”

Lawrence improves from the one-dimensional villain into a multifaceted character coming to terms with past failures and looking for a second chance. Zabka’s performance brought humor into Cobra Kai while exploring Lawrence’s vulnerability and making audiences relate to the character while sticking to what made him memorable in the first place.

Cobra Kai‘s Last Stand

With Cobra Kai getting ready to wrap up its sixth and final season, viewers are already wondering how everything will play out. The last season tries something different by being in three parts of five episodes each, with Part 3 currently planned for February 2025.

In an interview with Gizmodo, series co-creator Jon Hurwitz offered some thoughts on the show finale. He talked about a conclusion for many characters and hinted at more beginnings at the same time. 

For the final five [episodes], it’s not only closing out ‘Cobra Kai’ as a series, but it’s digging all the way back to the Karate Kid movies. It’s a resolution for a lot of these characters and new beginnings for them as well in different ways. And it’s going to be a really fun, fulfilling final five episodes.

That being said, the decision to end Season 6 was not made by Netflix but by the show’s own creators. Hurwitz clarified on X,

We’ve always wanted to end Cobra Kai on our own terms. Netflix didn’t tell us it was the last season. We told them it was the last season.

Although this will be the conclusion of Cobra Kai series, the franchise is not shutting down entirely as Karate Kid: Legends is about to bring together Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, and other familiar characters soon.

The Karate Kid franchise and all seasons of Cobra Kai are available to stream on Netflix.