“Cobra Kai” has covered a lot of ground in its six seasons — from the San Fernando Valley to Okinawa to Barcelona and back. But the heart of the show has always been the relationship between Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his first pupil, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña).
In an interview with Variety, Maridueña revealed that his last day on set for the show’s upcoming final five episodes was made all the more special by the fact that the episode being filmed was directed by Zabka, whom Maridueña refers to as “our beacon of light throughout these six seasons.”
“It was really cathartic and nice to be with him on my last day, and get to hang out and hug him — and close this chapter with him,” Maridueña said. “He was the one that I met before I even booked the job.”
Rising young star Maridueña, whose other credits include “Parenthood” and “Blue Beetle,” was a teenager when “Cobra Kai” originally debuted back in 2018. He has learned a lot in the intervening seven years, which he credits in part to the influence of Zabka and Ralph Macchio, the original “Karate Kid.”
“The biggest honor has been getting to work with these two and realize, kind of silently, that this is the end of this chapter for them as well,” Maridueña said. “So it’s been real great to have them as these tent poles for how to be in life.”
Maridueña is open to continuing his martial arts training going forward, though he also says that getting involved in theater and learning how to cook better are on his list of priorities as well. But what is the dream job coming off of a successful show like “Cobra Kai?”
“The dream job, honestly, is getting to live in this Venn diagram of honoring not only my ancestors, but the folks that I want to represent and show up for. Whether that be Angelenos, or young men, or Latinos, or all of these other stories that I’ve gotten the chance to tell.”
The final five episodes of “Cobra Kai” drop on Netflix on Feb. 13.
