Cobra Kai’s Homage Somehow Predicted Top Gun: Maverick’s Success

Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 5Even though Cobra Kai season 5 was produced before the release of Top Gun: Maverick, the Netflix karate series somehow predicted the phenomenal success of Top Cruise’s high-flying sequel. In Cobra Kai season 5, Johnny turns his attention away from karate and toward his family. Thanks to Johnny, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), finally settled their differences. Lawrence needed Miguel and Robby to stop feuding because they’re about to become a family: Johnny’s girlfriend and Miguel’s mom, Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio) is pregnant, and she dreams of Johnny as her Top Gun.

Johnny’s interests never moved on from his high school heyday of the 1980s, and Top Gun is a big part of the Me Decade’s pop culture. Directed by the late Tony Scott, Top Gun was released in 1986 and became one of Tom Cruise’s definitive starring roles. As Maverick, Cruise was the ultimate hotshot Navy combat pilot, along with his partner Goose (Anthony Edwards) and rival Iceman (Val Kilmer). But as successful as Top Gun was, Top Gun: Maverick became a bona fide phenomenon in 2022. The most crowd-pleasing event movie of the year, Top Gun: Maverick is still in the top 10 at the box office over 15 weeks after its release, and the Joseph Kosinski-directed sequel has grossed over a billion dollars at the box office. Maverick is obviously a major hit with audiences and ranks as the biggest film of Tom Cruise’s legendary career. Yet no one could have predicted the unrivaled success of Top Gun: Maverick… except, somehow, Cobra Kai season 5.

Cobra Kai season 5, episode 4, “Downward Spiral,” opens with a hilarious sequence where Carmen dreams about Johnny as Top Gun. The parody is spot-on as Johnny appears at her door wearing a flight suit and aviator glasses. Of course, there’s a volleyball scene where Johnny and Miguel team up, high-five, and strike macho poses as they score, and there’s also a blue-filter-lit love scene that looks just like Maverick’s controversial sex scene with Charlie (Kelly McGillis). Johnny also rides a motorcycle just like Maverick does. The twist is this Top Gun dream is actually Carmen’s perfect fantasy of her future family. She, Johnny, Miguel, and their unborn baby are all together, but dating Johnny has clearly infused Carmen with her own infatuation with the 1980s.

Johnny Lawrence Actually Likes Iron Eagle, Not Top Gun

There are always levels of irony in Cobra Kai and one of them is that Johnny is actually a fan of Iron Eagle, not Top Gun. Iron Eagle was also released in 1986 and stars Louis Gossett, Jr., but the fighter jet action flick is considered a B movie compared to Top Gun. Yet Iron Eagle spawned several sequels, and Johnny is a big fan. Johnny even had an Iron Eagle poster on the wall of his apartment, which he has since taken down as he did some remodeling to make his home more suitable for the baby on the way. Johnny actually hasn’t stated what his feelings are about Top Gun in Cobra Kai, but since it came out in the ’80s, Lawrence is probably a fan of it the way he loves all “badass” things from that decade.

Amazingly, Cobra Kai season 5 was shot months before Top Gun: Maverick was finally released after several COVID-related delays. It’s an amazing stroke of luck and timing that Cobra Kai season 5 just happens to contain a perfect ode to Top Gun: Maverick, one of the biggest and most popular films of 2022. And yet, Cobra Kai season 5 takes place in the summer of 2019 in the Miyagiverse timeline, so there are still another 3 years to go before Top Gun: Maverick is released in Cobra Kai‘s universe and Johnny can take his family to see Tom Cruise’s blockbuster on the big screen.

Cobra Kai Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.