New Cobra Kai season 5 photos reveal another major Karate Kid villain will return

Feeling nostalgic for movies from the 1980s and 1990s? The upcoming release of Cobra Kai season 5 on Netflix is just what you need. The dramedy, which debuted on YouTube Red in 2018, serves as a sequel to the original films, following Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) all grown up in their 50s.

Though Cobra Kai introduces viewers to brand-new characters, the show also does a great job incorporating past characters from the films. Throughout the four seasons that are available to stream right now, we’ve seen appearances from John Kreese (Martin Kove), Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), just to name a few.

Cobra Kai season 4 brought back one of the biggest villains from the Karate Kid film series, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), and we now have confirmation that another big bad is reprising his role for Cobra Kai season 5!

Cobra Kai season 5 cast: Sean Kanan returns as Mike Barnes

Netflix has just released the first photos from Cobra Kai season 5 and they certainly tease more drama to come. One photo in particular shows the actor Sean Kanan in a black suit ready to fight, revealing that he’ll be reprising his role as Mike Barnes! Check out the new picture below.

The character Mike Barnes was introduced to the franchise in The Karate Kid Part III (1989), a master at karate who faces off against Daniel at the All Valley Tournament. Daniel ends up being victorious, but it’s a pretty close fight. Mike is recruited by Terry Silver to compete against Daniel, with Terry offering Mike part ownership of the new Cobra Kai dojos.

“Karate’s Bad Boy” is one of the biggest villains in the films despite only appearing in one installment, so we’re sure he’s going to wreck a lot of havoc once he returns in Cobra Kai season 5. We know from the release date announcement teaser that Terry intends on opening up multiple Cobra Kai dojos across town. We’re sure Mike might be assisting him on that.

See the rest of the new photos from Cobra Kai season 5 below!

Don’t miss Cobra Kai season 5 when it hits Netflix on Sept. 9, 2022.