“It Is the Greatest Gift”: Xolo Maridueña Talks About Miguel’s Journey in ‘Cobra Kai’ All the Way to the End
With the final episodes of Cobra Kai rolling out on Netflix less than a week from now, everyone wants to hear from the stars themselves about how they feel and what we can expect from the characters’ journeys as they give one final bow before the series’ end. Luckily for Collider readers, our Editor Aidan Kelley was able to speak with none other than Xolo Maridueña (Blue Beetle) himself during the Saturn Awards last weekend, and the actor was happy to talk a little bit about Miguel’s journey and how it connects to the Karate Kid franchise as a whole.
From the start, Miguel has been a sort of reflection of the journey of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in The Karate Kid and its sequels. The boy also had a difficult childhood and adolescence, and martial arts became the turning point that taught him valuable lessons. During the interview, Maridueña revealed he’s as happy as anyone else that Cobra Kai went on for as long as it did. He stated:
“It is the greatest gift. I never thought we would get six seasons to tell these stories. So to live in this character and this world for all these years has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life. And more than, you know, reflecting on Miguel’s journey… it has really put into perspective Danny and Johnny’s journey. Having come from the ’84 flick all the way to now, the feeling of those final episodes was just wanting to perfect everything and do all that we could to make sure they were happy.”
What’s Next For Xolo Maridueña?
It’s been a long journey for Maridueña, who kicked off his career with Parenthood in 2012. During his stint in Cobra Kai, he managed to find the time to become a superstar hero in Blue Beetle, a DC movie that introduced the new character to the world on the big screen. Even though that DC universe is now dead as we knew it, Maridueña will reprise his role in an animated sequel series which, as he also told Collider, is aiming for a release sooner rather than later.
But the actor is far from done with voice work in superhero stories. This week, Maridueña will make his debut in the Invincible universe, in which he will voice not one but two characters. He will play Dropkick and Fightmaster, twin superheroes that come from the future to stop a threat. For now, however, this is all we know about the characters. We’ll have to wait until Season 3 premieres and wraps to get a full picture of what their plan is.
