Cobra Kai season 4 teaser trailer brings back villain Terry Silver

Cobra Kai season 4 teaser trailer
(Image credit: Netflix)

"Now the real pain begins." A new Cobra Kai season 4 teaser trailer confirms the return of possibly the biggest villain in the franchise: Terry Silver. And it doesn't sound like he's going to show any mercy to Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) or Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) when he comes back to town for the All Valley Karate Tournament.

Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) was introduced in the Karate Kid Part III movie as a wealthy businessman who funded Cobra Kai dojo for his old army buddy John Kreese (Martin Kove).

"Since the beginning of the series, we've been carefully orchestrating the right moment to unleash Cobra Kai dojo co-founder Terry Silver back into the universe," said show creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. 

"That moment is now."

If you thought Kreese was sadistic and abusive, Silver is even worse — which the teaser trailer ominously reveals. "If a man can't stand, he can't fight," Silver snarls in voice-over. This is a guy willing to go "extreme measures" to get what he wants. 

Silver's return to the Valley was hinted at in the Cobra Kai season 3 finale. After Daniel and Johnny merged their dojos to take on Kreese and Cobra Kai at the All Valley Tournament, he placed a phone call to someone. 

We figured it had to be Silver, who was featured in flashbacks to Kreese's time as a soldier in the Vietnam war. He credits Kreese with saving his life during a harrowing ordeal as POWs. In Karate Kid Part III, Silver helped his old friend get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi by bankrolling "karate bad boy" Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) at the tournament. 

In Cobra Kai season 4, the titular dojo is back under Kreese's control, but his students will have to win the tournament if he wants to keep it. Sounds like another opportunity for Silver to use his money and go to "extreme measures." Maybe fellow Karate Kid 3 villain Mike Barnes will return to join their evil team.

Cobra Kai season 4 is slated to premiere by the end of 2021 on Netflix. 

Kelly Woo
Streaming Editor

Kelly is the streaming channel editor for Tom’s Guide, so basically, she watches TV for a living. Previously, she was a freelance entertainment writer for Yahoo, Vulture, TV Guide and other outlets. When she’s not watching TV and movies for work, she’s watching them for fun, seeing live music, writing songs, knitting and gardening.