The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively, from the 1984 film The Karate Kid. The first and second seasons launched on YouTube Red/Premium in May 2018 and April 2019. Netflix acquired the series in June 2020 after YouTube decided to stop producing scripted original programming. The series has received critical acclaim for its writing, performances, action sequences, humor, character development and faithfulness to the previous films.