‘Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña: Miguel Will Face ‘Big Challenges’ As He Recovers From Terrifying Injury

‘Cobra Kai’ season 3 is going to pick up in the aftermath of the game-changing season 2 finale. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Xolo Maridueña and Jacob Bertrand about Miguel’s recovery and Hawk’s ‘hardship.’

Cobra Kai ended its second season with a major cliffhanger. During a brutal school fight, Robby kicked Miguel and accidentally caused him to fall onto a staircase railing. Miguel survived the fall, but he’s not in good shape. His road to recovery in season 3 will not be easy, and he may never be able to walk again. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Xolo Maridueña about what’s next for Miguel in season 3, which drops New Year’s Day.

“Going into season 3, there are some pretty big challenges I think that need to be addressed at the very beginning,” Xolo told HollywoodLife during the show’s virtual press junket. “The first of which, obviously, is figuring out, to Miguel at least, whether or not he’s going to be able to walk and fight again. I think karate and really Johnny’s influence really has a big impact on Miguel. I think because of that, right out of his coma, the first thing he’s worried about is Johnny and am I going to be able to do karate again. I think that’s going to be a little bit of a hard pill to swallow for everyone around him. We don’t know if he’s going to be able to walk again. We don’t know how Carmen, his mom, is going to feel about karate. I think there’s a lot of things, a lot of questions that need to be answered before we can even have Johnny and Miguel reconcile again. But as always, as a viewer of the show, I really enjoy the dynamic between Miguel and Johnny. So I hope that it doesn’t end here, but I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.”

At one point during Robby and Miguel’s fight, Miguel had Robby pinned. Miguel decided to listen to his mentor, Johnny, and show mercy. This moment played a major factor in what happened to Miguel because Robby did not show mercy. However, Xolo doesn’t think Johnny is totally to blame for what happened.

“I think it definitely is an issue to be solved between Robbie and Miguel. I think while you could blame Johnny for telling him to show mercy, at the end of the day, Miguel has free agency, and he’s allowed to do what he wants. At the end of the day, I was the one that decided to show mercy,” Xolo noted.

Meanwhile, Hawk is now until the tutelage of the formidable John Kreese. Jacob Bertrand revealed how Hawk is going to adapt to Kreese’s intense ways. “It’s quite different. Hawk was sort of was birthed from Johnny’s teachings and a lot of the tough love that Johnny had shown Eli,” Jacob told HollywoodLife. “Kreese is sort of a harsher version of this. I think a lot of season 3 for Hawk is sort of figuring out who he is and how he can fit into this new Cobra Kai because it’s darker, it’s harsher, it’s a lot more gritty. Especially with some of the characters that come in and out of season 3, there’s a lot of hardship for Hawk and a lot of tough decisions ahead of them.” Cobra Kai also stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Peyton List, Mary Mouser, and more. Season 3 will debut New Year’s Day on Netflix.