Following its Emmy nominations earlier this year, Cobra Kai is once again in the running for accolades as it garners three nominations at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards. Cobra Kai is a Netflix original series that premiered on May 2, 2018 and is a spin-off of the Karate Kid franchise.
Cobra Kai’s People’s Choice Awards nominations illustrate the strong positive reception the series has received throughout its three seasons. The series is nostalgic for older fans of The Karate Kid and the eternal rivalry between Johnny and Daniel, and also appeals to the newer generation with its effective use of teen comedy and drama.
The series follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, as their feud continues and extends to the next generation. After all, thanks to Netflix’s faithful effect, Cobra Kai has become one of America’s best shows in 2020, having moved off YouTube Red after two seasons.
Picking up decades after where the iconic Karate Kid film franchise ended, the series thrilled fans, some of whom are into it for nostalgia. Others, however, simply realize how good Cobra Kai is.
In addition to bringing back the stars of The Karate Kid, including Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, Cobra Kai also brought a new generation of actors to the dojo. In particular, the actor Xolo Maridueña plays Miguel Díaz, after appearing in the television series Parenthood.
While Xolo Maridueña wasn’t even alive the original Karate Kid movies took the world by storm, the young actor is arguably the heart of Cobra Kai. Maridueña plays Miguel in the series, the best student at Johnny’s dojo, who took refuge there to escape his problems on the street.
Maridueña, 19, is proud to be part of the new generation of Karate Kid in Cobra Kai, who arrived with a built-in fandom. It turns out that Xolo Maridueña found love on the set of Cobra Kai as well as fame, as he has been romantically linked to co-star Hannah Kepple, who is the same age as Maridueña.
