This was a great article. I can't get enough of Cobra Kai. I'm excited to watch the 5 new episodes that just dropped with my kids this weekend.
It's incredible really how they've managed to create a wider universe from 3 films, satisfy fans of the originals and bring in a new generation of fans through the younger cast. I love how it uses the same trick as Wicked and Maleficent of reviewing past events through the eyes of the "bad guy" to get a fresh perspective on what actually happened. The decision to re-invent Jonny Lawrence as down-on-his-luck perennial 80's man was a masterstroke.
I think fiction writers, even if they want to write something brand new, could do worse than generate ideas from existing IP's by asking themselves: what happened after the movie finished or the booke ended? Where would character A be 30 years later? How did the events of the movie/book impact character B?
This was a great article. I can't get enough of Cobra Kai. I'm excited to watch the 5 new episodes that just dropped with my kids this weekend.
It's incredible really how they've managed to create a wider universe from 3 films, satisfy fans of the originals and bring in a new generation of fans through the younger cast. I love how it uses the same trick as Wicked and Maleficent of reviewing past events through the eyes of the "bad guy" to get a fresh perspective on what actually happened. The decision to re-invent Jonny Lawrence as down-on-his-luck perennial 80's man was a masterstroke.
I think fiction writers, even if they want to write something brand new, could do worse than generate ideas from existing IP's by asking themselves: what happened after the movie finished or the booke ended? Where would character A be 30 years later? How did the events of the movie/book impact character B?
Thanks! And these are all great points. A reboot or relaunch doesn't need to be a retread, as Cobra Kai ably demonstrates.