Gianni DeCenzo Teases ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5 & His Dream of Binary Brothers Spinoff

The All Valley Tournament changed the game heading into Season 5 of Cobra Kai. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) were forced to shutter Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. 

Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) pulled off a full takeover of Cobra Kai after setting up John Kreese (Martin Kove) for the slammer. Now, the “No Mercy” branded dojo is primed for expansion. If that weren’t enough, foes old (Mike Barnes!) and new (Kim Da-Eun) are emerging from the shadows. Our favorite karate kidders are now facing their biggest challenges yet.

But Gianni DeCenzo, who plays Demetri, says not to count out his sensais just yet. “It’s not over until Danny and Johnny say it’s over,” he tells TV Insider.  We caught up with the fan favorite ahead of the Netflix series’ September 9 return. 

One of the most pivotal scenes last season saw Demetri lift Eli “Hawk” (Jacob Bertrand) back up after losing his mohawk. The binary brothers are really there for each other.

Gianni DeCenzo: Demetri and Eli have a very complicated relationship. They started out as best friends. They got along really well, maybe out of necessity initially, because at one point all they had was each other. They were very close friends. Then this karate thing came into play where Eli lost himself. Demetri was trying his best to bring his best friend back. Ultimately, he had given up. Things got pretty ugly there with Hawk breaking Demetri’s arm. That was honestly the lowest point. Getting to see them become friends again and brothers like you said is awesome. That scene where Demetri is consoling Eli just shows how close they are. Nobody else can show a weird video to Eli to make him feel better and bring him back to karate like Demetri. That is what is so special about their relationship. 

Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2021

How has it been getting to show more of your karate skills and participate in the All-Valley? Will we be seeing more Demetri in action for Season 5?

I used to be able to say, “I’m lucky my character isn’t good at karate so I don’t have to be.” With Season 4, and maybe we’ll see later on in 5, he becomes very good at karate. I would say even surpassing my skills. I read through the script, and he has weapons. He is doing all these crazy fight scenes. I thought, “Shoot, I’ve really got to train for this.” For Season 4, the training got bumped up. I had not done as much stretching in my life for those three months of filming. It was a lot of fun. I get to work with an amazing stunt team. I got to work with the stunt team on kamas — the weapon I use in the All-Valley. Craig was an awesome teacher. For three months, we were in a small room sweating and trying to get it down. It was a lot more training, but a lot more fun. 

Is fitness more a part of your life now with this role?

It’s definitely kept me in shape out of necessity. I’m not a very athletic person. I do Krav Maga, an Israeli fight technique. I do that maybe a few times a month. This filming is the most training I’ve ever done in my life, which is awesome. It keeps me in check. I can’t let myself go. Hopefully, maybe we’ll see Demitri become more fit. It’s something I always try to work towards. We’ll see if I can pull that off. 

Demetri’s evolution has been fun to watch. It’s nice to see him get the girl, Yasmine (Annalisa Cochrane). How much fun did you have shooting those prom scenes?

I didn’t get a senior prom. I was part of the graduating class of 2020. I didn’t get in-person graduation. I did do one freshman year. Honestly, the Cobra Kai prom was my senior prom. I got to hang out with cool people. My castmates are awesome. I got to dance a little bit. On set, they’ll play the music for like a few seconds and then they’ll cut it when they roll. So, you’ll just have to pretend the music is still in your head. I’m also proud of Demetri. Looking at him in Season 1, you think, “Well, this guy is not going to take the rich popular girl to prom.” Now he is making out with her at the after-party. I’m proud of Demitri. He has got better game than I do. Good for him. 

Netflix © 2021

With Silver in full control after Kreese played the ultimate villain for so long, would you consider Season 5 the most unpredictable season yet? 

It is unpredictable because the situation has gotten pretty extreme. We had to deal with Kreese in the past. Silver is like Kreese on steroids because he has that cunning and conniving sense about him. Silver has these connections Kreese didn’t have. Getting to see what kind of plan Silver is up to — we’ll see it in Season 5. It’s a new challenge. I’m never worried about where the story will go. The creators are amazing at what they do. Somehow they are always able to top the last season. I don’t know how they do it. They keep us, the actors, on our toes, just as much as the viewers. 

I saw you doing a little improv. Is that a direction you want to take more of in your career?

I did a lot of Second City and some Groundlings. I’ve always enjoyed doing improv. I like to bring a lot of it to the set of Cobra Kai. The creators will let us put our own spin on things. There have been a couple of adlibs I’ve gotten to add myself. That’s always fun. I’ve been thinking about joining an improv group, like a standup act. We’ll see if people want to see me go on stage. 

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What else can you tease about Season 5?

From the trailer, it’s after the All-Valley. Daniel and Johnny figure out what to do with the situation at hand. It’s pretty bleak for them right now. They had to shut down their dojos. It’s going to be pretty crazy.  

Where do you want to see Demetri go in the future? I can definitely see spinoff potential with Demetri and Eli going to college.

I would love to see a Demetri and Hawk spinoff. I always thought of them as, yes, going to college, but also for some reason being detectives. Maybe Hawk is the bad cop and Demetri the good cop. Demetri uses his brain while Hawk uses his fists to solve these crimes while in college. I would like to see a spinoff. I just want to see Demetri get better at karate and continue his relationship with Yasmine and become president of the world. 

Cobra Kai, Season 5, September 9, Netflix