Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3's Bizarre Post-Credits Scene, Explained

This article contains spoilers for "Cobra Kai."

"Cobra Kai" is the best-case scenario for what a legacy sequel should be. It is full of homages and references to the original "Karate Kid" movies, from replaying their most popular songs to reusing entire lines of dialogue and replicating moments and iconography. And yet, it never feels like the show is winking at the audience or being cheeky in its meta-ness. Instead, there's a sense of things being cyclical in "Cobra Kai," that students learn from their teachers and then pass on those lessons to students of their own.

It helps that "Cobra Kai" is constantly bringing back actors from previous "Karate Kid" films for cameo appearances — or to play central roles — and showing how much they have (or haven't) changed over the past four decades. Take Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and how much he channels Mr. Miyagi (the late, great Pat Morita) throughout the show, while characters like Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan) echo Daniel's role in the original "The Karate Kid." This includes Robby getting injured during his final tournament match in the Season 1 finale and Daniel trying to help him. Rather than a cringe-worthy reference, the scene comes across as a deja vu or a cute nod, a case of history repeating itself.

This is to say that fans of "Cobra Kai" expect the show's allusions to be clever and unexpected ... which makes the very final scene of the series so incredibly bizarre. Let's talk about it.

The "Cobra Kai" series finale is as perfect as you could expect. In an incredible homage to the first "Karate Kid" movie, an underdog emerges triumphant, only this time it's Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) who gets to play the hero. He finally wins the big tournament, defeats the bad guys, reclaims his dojo, and gets his life together.

After an epilogue showing where every character ends up after the Sekai Taikai, we meet back with Daniel and Johnny at a diner in a post-credits scene. Except, before we see them, we hear a conversation between two guys at the counter. The guys are named Jake and Jeremy and they are played by "Cobra Kai" creators Josh Heald and Jon Hurwitz. The two are talking about an idea for a show that would be "set in Hill Valley, alternate 1985." Just in case that doesn't ring a bell, Jake (Hurwitz) lists some very familiar people, like (Thomas F.) Wilson, (Lea) Thompson, Crispin (Clover), and Mike (J. Fox).

That's right, the creators of "Cobra Kai" ended their show by pitching a "Back to the Future" TV series set in an alternate timeline. Honestly, this is the only thing that would get me excited about a potential revisit to that franchise (which, to be fair, already got an animated show in 1991). Hurwitz, Heald, and co-creator Hayden Schlossberg earned themselves a huge amount of goodwill with "Cobra Kai." They did the impossible by reviving a property that appeared to have run out of gas long ago and turning it into one of the best shows of the streaming era. If anyone could make a return trip to Hill Valley worth it, it would be them. 

Plus, even if Michael J. Fox didn't come out of retirement to star in the series, he could always serve as a director instead. Sure, everyone involved with making the "Back to the Future" trilogy has firmly rejected the idea of a reboot, but who knows, stranger things have happened.

During a roundtable interview /Film participated in ahead of the release of "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 3, Jon Hurwitz talked about the "Back to the Future" gag in the finale.

According to Hurwitz, his and Josh Heald's cameo came about after Hayden Schlossberg had already appeared on camera in the middle five episodes of the final season as Ezra, Terry Silver's (Thomas Ian Griffith) flashy lawyer. The two other co-creators then decided to jump onto the stage for the finale, casting themselves as a pair of guys who just happen to be talking right near where Johnny and Daniel are having lunch as friends. As for why their scene alludes to "Back to the Future?" Hurwitz said it is "a franchise that we love as much as we love 'Karate Kid.'"

"We've, in our own fan-fiction nerd ways, had the fantasies of what you would do if we got the opportunity to do a series about that amazing world," Hurwitz continued. Of course, the "Cobra Kai" creative team are aware that "Back to the Future" creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis have spent decades squashing every rumor of a possible sequel or reboot, and know how unlikely it is that a "Back to the Future" series will actually happen. "We have great respect for everyone who made that franchise, but at least in 'Cobra Kai,' a couple young filmmakers can dream," Hurwitz added.

So there's that. Is the post-credits scene a secret pitch from the "Cobra Kai" creators for making their own "Back to the Future" series? No. But at the very least, it means the characters of the "Cobra Kai" universe might have a celebrated legacy sequel series based on a beloved '80s franchise to call their own (in this case, one that's set in Hill Valley rather than San Fernando Valley).

"Cobra Kai" is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.