Tanner Buchanan teases 'payoff' for Cobra Kai fans as season 6 continues filming

The time Cobra Kai fans have been dreading will arrive before we know it: The official end of the series. The Emmy Award-nominated karate comedy-drama series was renewed for a sixth and final season back in January 2023 after the fifth season dropped in September 2022. It's been an abnormally long wait for new episodes, but the wait will be well worth it.

While promoting his new Amazon Prime Video romantic comedy How to Date Billy Walsh, Tanner Buchanan spoke about the series coming to an end and the journey of being on a beloved, long-running show. When he first took on the role of Robby Keene in the series back in October 2018, Buchanan was only 19 years old, and by the time it ends, he'll be about 26.

Given that the series has been in production for very nearly 10 years, it's a significant period of time in Buchanan's life and career. As he shared with HeyUGuys on YouTube about his experience on the popular Netflix original, "It's been a wonderful experience. You know, it's six seasons, but we've all known each other for seven going on eight years, so almost a decade, which is crazy to me. But it's been absolutely wonderful."

Tanner Buchanan talks legacy ahead of Cobra Kai season 6

As hard as it will be for the fans to bid Cobra Kai a bittersweet farewell when it airs its last episodes later on in 2024, the hit will be twice as hard for the cast and crew. Filming for season 6 has been underway since January, with the season aiming for a release by the end of the year (at least, we're keeping on fingers crossed). There's plenty of time to emotionally prepare for the end.

However, Tanner Buchanan isn't making that inevitable goodbye any easier for fans with his recent comments about the show's legacy. While he didn't give away any spoilers from the final season, he offered some insight on what it was like walking into this established Karate Kid world and working with the franchise's legendary stars to create something new that fans immediately adored.

Buchanan said the following to HeyUGuys:

"When we first went in, no one knew where it was going to go. We just all came in knowing that specifically working with Ralph [Macchio] and Billy [Zabka], all the younger cast, you're just like, 'Oh there's this legacy that we have to be able to live up to and try to learn from and try to match their energy to carry on.' It was one of those things where everybody just kind of went in and just wanted to do a good job. "

- Tanner Buchanan

If you have been watching Cobra Kai since its beginning, then you know the younger cast more than live up to the high standard set by the source material. Arguably, the show has created a whole new layer to the legacy of the series, which doesn't happen very often. But even with the popularity of the show, including award nominations and big viewership numbers on Netflix, the cast and crew's goal always remained the same, according to Buchanan.

He continued in the HeyUGuys interview, "We just kept that energy saying, hey, even now with everybody loving it, all we're trying to do is to, you know, make the fans happy and work as hard as we can to make sure that the story is there and that the payoff is there for everybody watching it."

The actor didn't explicitly give anything away from the final season, but he did manage to allude to the fact the the series finale will have a payoff that will satisfy fans — or, at least, that's what he can glean from his vague rumination on the show's legacy. It's just one of the many Netflix shows ending with its final season in the next year or two, and it's sure to stick the landing like a complicated karate move.

Watch Cobra Kai on Netflix, and stay tuned for more news and updates on the final season from Netflix Life!