Tamal Kundu
As a sequel series, ‘Cobra Kai’ seems to have found a perfect balance between nostalgia, comedy, and modernity. The first season is set 34 years after the original Karate Kid film and follows Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as he tries to bring back the eponymous dojo. After discovering this, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) recounts his horrible experience with the dojo and does his best to shut it down. This once more reignites the enmity between the former karate rivals.
American actor Xolo Maridueña plays Miguel Diaz, Johnny’s first student among the new generation of karate practitioners. Miguel is one of the most important characters in the show, and his relationship with Johnny is at the heart of the narrative. In season 4, certain things happen that might have led the fans to believe that Maridueña is leaving ‘Cobra Kai.’ Here is what you need to know about it.
Is Xolo Maridueña Leaving Cobra Kai?
In season 4, Johnny and Miguel’s relationship undergoes several changes. Even though Johnny and Carmen decide to tell Miguel that they are dating, he finds out about it before they can speak to him. Johnny’s fear of losing what he has with Miguel makes him overprotective. But when Miguel calls him out on that, Johnny quickly admits that he is in the wrong. Meanwhile, Miguel’s life gets affected by the volatile relationship between Johnny and Daniel. Miguel thrives under Daniel’s tutelage as Miyagi-Do’s teachings perfectly fit his easy-going personality. But Johnny and Daniel’s rivalry forces him to choose between one of them, which also ends up affecting his relationship with Sam.
Teen romances in fiction are more complicated than they should be. And Miguel and Sam’s relationship is an excellent example of that. They have a horrible time at the prom, where they get into a fight with Robby and Tory. In the days leading to the competition, Miguel gets heartbroken when he hears Johnny saying Robby’s name in his sleep when he thought his sensei was speaking about him. Johnny’s obsession with defeating Cobra Kai and securing the future of his dojo gets better of him as he starts to put winning over Miguel’s safety.
Toward the end of the season, overwhelmed by everything that has happened, Miguel decides that he must find the truth about himself. So, he drops off the tournament and boards a bus to New Mexico in the hopes of seeing his biological father, who doesn’t even know he exists. Traditionally, scenes like this are often used to write off a character from a storyline.
Fortunately, that’s not the case with Miguel. Even though Maridueña is set to make his big-screen debut with ‘Blue Beetle,’ he is not stopping portraying Miguel Diaz any time soon. In one of the final scenes of the season, Johnny promises Carmen that he will bring her son back and leaves. In season 5, much of Johnny’s conflict will probably be with Miguel’s father, and Miguel will be at the center of that.
Read More: Do Johnny and Carmen End Up Together in Cobra Kai Season 4?
