Cobra Kai – Picture: Sony TV
Cobra Kai could soon be coming to Netflix with its previous two seasons and the upcoming third season according to a report from Deadline. The series has up until now been available on YouTube Premium but is set to be shopped to either Netflix or Hulu.
For those who have never heard of Cobra Kai before, it’s a spin-off television series for the popular movie franchise, The Karate Kid. The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.
Seasons one and two are currently available exclusively on YouTube premium with a third in development and due to release shortly. However, a fourth season has been ruled out, at least at YouTube.
Deadline reports that both Hulu and Netflix are the main contenders for the streaming rights to the popular YouTube series which has been one of the biggest to release as part of YouTube Premium’s offering thus far.
The third season would be exclusive to the new provider but will share the first two seasons with YouTube Premium.
Of course, we’d argue Netflix is the best home as it has a global scope, whereas Hulu is only available in the US and looks to have significant barriers to launching internationally.
Netflix has recently picked up three major Sony TV Pictures licenses as of late. It secured the global streaming rights to Community in April, Hannibal set to release in the US in June, and also Seinfeld for release in 2021.
Why is Cobra Kai departing YouTube?
The news comes hours after Step Up, another YouTube Original series is said to be moving over to its production company’s network, Starz.
This all but spells the end for YouTube Originals, at least from major distributors. YouTube Premium is instead focusing on shows that feature talent from the YouTube platform and additional benefits such as ad-free viewing and YouTube Music.
Would you like to see Cobra Kai on Netflix including the third and potential future seasons? Let us know in the comments down below.
Rating: TV-14
