Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg are no doubt crane-kicking on cloud nine after the announcement that the hugely popular Karate Kid continuation series has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Heald has now reacted to the exciting news, as well as providing an update on the highly anticipated fourth season.

"We're all very excited here, it was a big surprise to us. We love making this show, but we also know that it's a comedy, a drama, and an action series. It's a lot of things and we don't necessarily fit into one category in the minds of some people. Our writers room is full of comedy writers. The concept of our show is taking the villain from the Karate Kid, putting him front and center, and giving him the Better Call Saul treatment where you're emotionally invested in his story. We're really grateful to Netflix and Sony, as well as our cast and crew."

While Heald was not able to give too much away regarding the direction of Cobra Kai season 4, he did reveal that all episodes have now been filmed, with the creator calling the series a very worthy battle.

"We shot during the thick of [the current circumstances] and it was our most difficult production from the standpoint of dealing with [the global situation] during an already ambitious shoot. We have never been prouder of a season that we've put in the can. We've seen it and we know we've got the goods. We cannot wait for the fans of this franchise to see everything we did this season knowing everything we went through to put that into place. It's an amazing memory we'll all have knowing that it was a battle and we won."

The third season of Cobra Kai wrapped up with some big changes being made to the status quo, with Daniel's (Ralph Macchio) Miyagi-Do dojo joining forces with Johnny's (William Zabka) new Eagle Fang students to defeat Cobra Kai, which has now been taken over by the menacing John Kreese (Martin Kove). Their unexpected truce came after a visit from another crucial character from the Karate Kid's past, Elisabeth Shue's Ali Mills Schwarber, which turned out to be a much more healing experience than the characters, or the audience, could ever have expected.

The final moments of season 3 brought the ongoing rivalry between Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) and Tory Nichols (Peyton List) to a head. The two new characters and their karate-infused conflict will be crucial to the upcoming fourth season, says Hurwitz.

"Sam and Tory are two of our favorite characters in the series and their rivalry is a fresh one that certainly cuts to the core for both of them. We're eager for people to see how it plays out in Season 4 because there's certainly no love lost between those two at the end of Season 3 and there's a lot more between them going forward. We think it's a very special season for both those characters."

If that were not already more than enough for Cobra Kai and Karate Kid fans to get excited about, season 4 will also bring back an infamous face (and ponytail) for Daniel-San to contend with: The Karate Kid Part III's Terry Silver.

A close friend of John Kreese from his military days, Terry Silver is the main antagonist in the 1989's The Karate Kid threequel, and a character that many fans had hoped would return for more revenge-fuelled antics against Danny LaRusso and the legacy of Mr. Miyagi. Set to once again be portrayed by actor Thomas Ian Griffith, a recent teaser showed Silver in all his pony-tailed glory, teasing a return to the brutal, violent, and offensive techniques that rival those of even John Kreese. So, what will Silver be getting up to when he returns to the dojo? Unfortunately, Schlossberg is playing coy...

"People are going to have to tune in to Season 4 to find out. For now we'll say we've been looking forward to working with Thomas Ian Griffith for a long time and we were very patient with ourselves to find the right moment, and Season 4 is that moment."

With the return of Terry Silver, Johnny and Daniel are going to be very pleased that they decided to team up. The legendary adversaries coming together for the greater good is sure to take Cobra Kai and the legacy of The Karate Kid into previously unexplored territory, something which William Zabka cannot wait for audiences to see. "I was thrilled Johnny and Daniel found common ground and aligned themselves at the end of Season 3," Zabka said. ""The enemy of my enemy is my friend." It's a great note and launching point for all that's ahead in the story."

The recent Emmys nomination is just one of the many examples demonstrating how much Cobra Kai has resonated with audiences, something which the creators put down to their genuine fandom of the franchise. "The three of us love the Karate Kid, and I don't say that casually," Heald says. "We loved it the first time we saw it when we were 6 years old and it stuck with us. We loved it when we were 6 years old and then after watching it over and over again on VHS until it became so worn down we had to record it again."

Schlossberg is in agreement saying, "I think why our series resonates with so many is because we write for the child within us that loves these movies. So it ends up being a show children like, which is unique for us because our backgrounds are in edgy comedy, but this show has brought us our widest appeal. I think this is because when we're writing for Cobra Kai, we're thinking about our younger selves."

The first few seasons of Cobra Kai have been a huge hit for Netflix, and the upcoming fourth season shows no signs of that success slowing down, with the cast and fans excited for the continued adventures of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Cobra Kai season 4 does not yet have a release date, but is expected to be released in the latter part of 2021. The series will once again star Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Martin Kove, Vanessa Rubio, and Peyton List alongside Ralph Macchio and William Zabka. This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.