No one expected Cobra Kai, the present-day sequel to the original The Karate Kid, to be as big a success as it has become. After two hugely popular seasons, the series is returning for a third season next year. In an interview, William Zabka, who plays the lead role of bully-turned-karate-instructor Johnny Lawrence, teased big surprises for the upcoming season.

"Nothing is as it seems, I can tell you that. Listen, for the character of Johnny, Ali, I've been saying this for the last two seasons, she's a big missing piece of his life. She's the love that got away and in some form would love to reconnect. But the show is full of surprises."

Ali Mills was the character played by Elizabeth Shue in the original The Karate Kid. She was Johnny's girlfriend. She sided with Daniel LaRusso during the final karate tournament, having broke up with Johnny earlier in the movie. It seems Cobra Kai could see the character make a return in a big way, for a fresh season that William Zabka is confident will be bigger than the previous two combined.

"The end of Season 2 is a car wreck essentially. There's a lot of pieces to put back together. There's a lot of healing that has to happen. There's a lot of growing that needs to happen. I've seen a lot of fan theories out there, and heard a lot of fan theories Nice tries. It's awesome. I mean, Season 3 is fireworks. And I think it's Season 1 and 2 combined on steroids. And it was a blast to shoot and it's gonna be worth the wait. It's hard. We were hoping it would be out before now too, but the world is what it is right now, and we're so happy to be at a great home like Netflix. And for our fans that have already seen the show to watch it and watch it again, and the new fans to come on board. There's a lot of work to get Season 3 ready. It's getting translated for 30 countries and all that stuff."

While the initial premise of Cobra Kai seemed like a cheap play for nostalgia, the series has proven it has something solid to add to the original The Karate Kid saga and explore how the original film and the sport of karate had a long-lasting impact on the characters of Johhny and Daniel. Zabka points out that the series will continue to surprise viewers with the direction in which it is headed with season 3.

"Season 3 is gonna be worth the wait. It's going to deliver in a great way, on all fronts. Be some surprises, there's things you expect that aren't going to happen, but that's on purpose. I mean, you couldn't figure it out. You know, if you watch "Cobra Kai" from Episode 1 to the end of Season 2, you couldn't have tracked that. It's like it took so many, all that happens with Kreese, it's all surprising. It's just great writing."

These quotes arrive to us from ComicBook.com.