Cobra Kai Season 4: Thomas Ian Griffith & Peyton List tease Terry Silver’s return

Cobra Kai Season 4 drops on Netflix tomorrow (check out our review), and fans are eagerly awaiting the return of one of the franchise’s most infamous villains, Thomas Ian Griffith’s Terry Silver, who terrorized Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid Part III. Griffith, who was a pretty solid DTV action hero in the mid-nineties through flicks such as Excessive Force and Ulterior Motives, has been working primarily as a writer recently and worked as a producer on the long-running series Grimm. Griffith recently sat down with EW to discuss his return to the role that made him (in)famous, with him particularly tickled by Silver’s chaotic glee.

“[Something] I think we’ve kept alive with Terry [on Cobra Kai] is bringing back that glee he has. He actually enjoys this — he’s this billionaire who will have all this going on and [still] go back to the small little world of a karate tournament in the Valley. It’s so absurd that it’s fantastic!”

Indeed, having already seen the entirety of Cobra Kai Season 4, I can tell you that Silver’s arc is quite well thought out, and he comes off as far less cartoonish than he did in The Karate Kid Part III. According to Griffith, in that film, the intention was always for Silver to be way over-the-top:

“With [Karate Kid Part III director] John Alvidsen, I’d be like, “This is a little over the top.” And he was like, “I want every little kid in America kicking you in the shins.” He just gave me free rein to run with it.”

One thing worth noting about the new season is how elaborate the fights are compared to what we saw in seasons 1-3. In an interview with Today, star Peyton List, who’s got a lot more screen time this season, mentioned how Griffith, who’s one of the most legit martial artists on the show, impressed everyone with his fighting ability.

“He brings that intensity, and he is — I mean, he’s an incredible martial artist in real life, and just seeing him stretching in between takes on the mats, or, you know, doing a little workout. The man is doing splits. … He’s a strong individual and he’s still just as in shape as he was (at the time of ‘Part III’).”

Cobra Kai Season 4 hits Netflix tomorrow, and I fully expect everyone to be entirely caught up on the adventures of the Hill Valley gang by January 1st! Once you start it, the show is pretty tough to turn off.