Cobra Kai is a homage in part to the original movies but the characters themselves are grown up and facing new challenges. Johnny's life has spiraled down since the pivotal crane kick while Daniel's has dramatically improved. There are all kinds of callbacks to the series either directly or in a sense of irony. At times I have seen through the first seven episodes thus far Daniel reflecting various characters of the first movies perhaps unconsciously (i.e. Kreese and Johnny from the first movie, Myagi's rival Sato from the second movie, etc) albeit in ways not perceivable to him. (He also comes off like Myagi in other contexts.) Meanwhile, Johnny is in the role of the underdog in this one and you see sides to him that you did not see previously including some back story that rounds out the character in ways you did not realize previously. Someone once did a video series on how Daniel was the real bully of the original movie and while I think that hypothesis is a stretch, its not entirely without merit and it seems the writers of this series went into this with that series hypothesis in mind at least in part.
Cobra Kai is not one of those later series specials they do of so many hit shows or movies which absolutely misses the point or does not have the magic of the original. This series echoes the magic of the original in spots, has flashbacks at key points, new character information one was not aware of which fleshes things out a bit. There are also new characters who have prominent roles in the series such as the bullied kid Johnny mentors, Daniel's family, Johnny's estranged son, etc. And of course the return of Cobra Kai and there is karate but like the Rocky films and boxing, the karate in the Karate Kid series has always been in a certain sense a secondary vehicle of sorts that teaches more valuable lessons than it would appear on the surface. I look forward to watching the last three episodes of the season tonight and hope they film a season two.
