🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐: This story contains spoilers from Cobra Kai Season 5.
Karate Kid Part III’s bad boy Mike Barnes has officially entered the Cobra Kai chat this season — and you can bet there will be no mercy.
In the 1989 film, Mike Barnes, played by Sean Kanan, was hired by Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to defeat Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) at the All-Valley Tournament. His prize? Fifty percent ownership of the new Cobra Kai dojos that Silver planned to open. Not satisfied with simply defeating Daniel at the tournament, Mike terrorized him outside of the ring as well, and did everything from destroying Mr. Miyagi’s prized bonsai tree to threatening Daniel’s loved ones.
Thirty-three years later, Barnes is back — as is Kanan, who was excited to reprise his role in the franchise. Recently, Kanan caught up with Tudum to discuss his character’s comeback and what it was like reuniting with some of his former castmates.
Fans have been speculating and demanding your return for so many seasons, and it's finally happened. What’s it like stepping back into Mike Barnes?
It’s amazing that a role that I played 30-plus years ago still has some relevance and affection with the fans — and that's just a testament to the amazing Karate Kid universe and Cobra Kai fandom. I’m humbled and flattered to be a part of this. It was a little surreal.
In the film, Mike Barnes is a very unidimensional character and that was by design. Me as a person and as an actor has evolved tremendously from where I was as that 22-year-old kid who filmed The Karate Kid Part III. I knew I was going to be able to bring a lot more depth to the character and that was exciting for me.
On a personal note, what was really exciting for me was the opportunity to get to re-know Ralph as an adult in a completely different environment. I really feel like Ralph and I forged a really nice friendship and working relationship [during Cobra Kai Season 5]. We didn’t really get the chance to know each other very well when we were filming [The Karate Kid Part III].
How would you describe who Mike Barnes is today?
When we see Mike, he has all the trappings of being a pretty successful guy. He’s driving a BMW, lives in a really nice house, runs a business and is married. He’s put a life together for himself. He’s a guy that very easily could have gone down a dark path and obviously, something happened that was a catalyst for him turning his life around.
What do you remember most from filming The Karate Kid Part III?
My most profound and overriding memory of The Karate Kid Part III is the fact that I almost lost my life filming it. [During a two-week break in shooting, Kanan had to have emergency surgery due to internal bleeding caused by a stunt injury.] As terrible as it was, it also proved to be one of the most important and defining experiences in my life.
Did filming Cobra Kai Season 5 stir up some of those difficult memories?
Of course. It’s something I think about from time to time. Probably what I thought about [this time] was, “Gee, isn’t it nice to be doing these fight scenes without having a 15-inch wound on my abdomen that I’m terrified is going to pop open?”
I always joke it was a good thing that I wore a black gi in The Karate Kid Part III because if it was a white one, you would’ve seen blood almost every day. There’s also a lot of anxiety with coming back and doing fight scenes postoperatively. I mean, 35 years later, here I am squaring off with these guys.
What do you think fans will be most surprised by in the new season of Cobra Kai?
It gets increasingly more difficult for a show to be fresh, new and compelling for an audience generally as the seasons progress, and I think Season 5 is fantastic. They’re going to be pleasantly surprised with the fact that the majority of all of the theories as to Mike Barnes’ return are all wrong — and that’s such a testament to the [showrunners] not doing what’s expected.
What do you think it will take to finally defeat John Kreese (Martin Kove)?
There’s that old saying about the devil and why he’s the smartest because he is the oldest. Kreese still has a lot of experience on all of these guys. It’s going to take multiple different thought processes and personalities to be able to bring him down.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
