One of the poignant but significant truth about any element is its conclusion. All good things must come to an end and that is exactly the case with this recent Netflix offering.

Extending the legacy of the iconic 'Karate Kid' movies while also establishing its own exceptional mark, 'Cobra Kai' has finally returned with its next and final installment.

At the helm of the show are some immensely dedicated souls trying to craft a project that screams success.

Starring alongside Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Xolo Maridueña; Patrick Luwis made his entrance within the highly successful project embodying the persona of Axel Kovacevic.

Bringing him at the forefront of the project and establishing Luwis as an erudite performer, the way Patrick intensively committed himself to executing his character so passionately and flawlessly will surely leave an extremely heavy impact on the audiences for a long time. 

Luwis' performance within this season is imbued with hostility, aggression, and ultimately regret which further transcends into his impeccable arc's satisfying closure. 

We talk to Patrick Luwis for our first cover of 2025 regarding his portrayal of Axel, what it was like stepping back into the shoes of the Sekai Tekai finalist, his experience wrapping up the project, his thoughts on a potential Axel Spinoff, and much more! 

We definitely start this part seeing Axel in a very unexpected light. From being spotlighted as this ruthless machine-like fighter to doing a goofy dance while being AI. 

So I would love to know what was your first reaction to reading that particular sequence and knowing that they're kind of revealing a bit of a more comedic and human-like element to Axel's arc?

Oh my gosh, yes. That part was hilarious. I think everyone's going to be like, 'What the heck? This is so different than what we're used to seeing.' so I thought that was a really super clever way how they did that.

I loved his arc. I was so thrilled with how they had written it. It's more interesting as an actor to play a character like him who goes from one place and gets somewhere and has more levels to him which makes him interesting as a person. I enjoy it.

Also from him- just being a character in the show who you're kind of rooting for to be a good guy. You want him to get to that place. Like I would be pretty disappointed if he just let SenseI Wolf get to his head and gets corrupted for the rest of his life.

So, I'm proud and it's exciting to see him as a character who finally gets to that place where he can stand up to his sensei.

I do remember that dancing scene in particular. It was funny reading that because that was the very last thing I shot because of the order that we filmed so it was like my last day on set. 

And I just remember being like, 'Oh, I have to be funny in this scene.'

It just felt so foreign because I'd been playing the character for three months before that as just a serious guy and vulnerable guy. And then having to do a comedic beat felt different.

I was like, 'Oh, I haven't done this in front of everybody yet so hopefully it works out.' but that was a really fun scene to do. I'm so happy with the growth of this character and his arc.

I love how they did a really good job of keeping him in a way as if the viewers didn't know whether to hate him or not.

I believe he's not really a bad guy but he also is sort of the enemy in this situation because as viewers, you're still rooting for Miyagi-Do or Cobra Kai. So, that was really interesting. 

Like we witnessed this sort of ruthless action style he had in the previous installment, but what I loved about this part was not only did the creators show that Axel wasn't this machine-like competitor who always wins but also how his fighting style was being affected constantly by being under such an abusive sensei. 

How do you think having such an abusive and authoritarian leadership affected his fighting style and do you think if he was in any of the other dojos, or maybe under a different sensei, he might have won the final match? 

That's so interesting. I mean as much as it sounds messed up, I think part of the reason that he is as good as he is, is because of how hard his sensei was on him. So, I believe it's very possible that he still has the athletic ability to win.  

There's also of course a natural talent there so it will be so interesting to see him under the leadership of one of the other Senseis; who is actually a good person with good intentions. 

I do believe he absolutely had the capability to do that, but I also think it added an intensity to his fighting and all of the anger and desire to win because maybe he was scared.

If you're scared, you're going to get hit and lose something which adds this extra element of the need to win for that reason. 

So, I would love to see him under the leadership of someone else. He could still be a great fighter and win the tournament in a lot of ways and even if not, he could still be successful in the tournament. It'll be cool to see him somewhere else. 

You mentioned before how you didn't have any martial training prior to this project, so what has been your most memorable and favourite move that you learned through these fight choreographies for the final season? 

The most memorable moments were probably the final fights- the Miguel fight, and the Robbie fight in Part Three. Just because being in that arena where so many of the fights have taken place and that too in front of a big crowd was amazing.

It was like that in the Barcelona scenes, but here you really felt like you were in the spotlight. Because we had all these extras sitting up and a lot of people were spectating. 

It felt very performative and as if you were putting on a show while trying to just get the scenes right so that was a lot of fun.

It was extra pressure but it just made it more fun and I just thought those sequences and fights were the longest. They had the most beats of anything I had done. So, yes, there were a lot of moments within there. 

There was also this tornado kick. It was basically in the fight with Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) where I had to spin around two times and then kick him. I had never done anything like that. And it was apparently a pretty difficult thing to learn and get the timings right.

I was just workshopping that on the spot with the stunt guys so it felt really satisfying to nail that. I'm so pleased with how that turned out. That was probably one of my favourite moves.

In our previous interview, I know we talked about how you believed Axel was unique in his own way but I'm very curious to know if given an opportunity, is there any one quality that you wish you could take away from Axel as well as one trait you wish Axel had of yours from your real-life self? 

It's funny. I was actually going to say his jealousy and anger towards Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) in regards to the Sam (Mary Mouser) situation because it's just so completely unwarranted. 

And a lot of people are joking about it online too because it's really this one-sided beef where Miguel has no idea about him- he's like 'Dude. I don't even know you. What's going on here?' (Laughs)

And, of course, he's only spoken to Sam for only a couple of minutes at the beach one day and all ofa sudden he thinks they're dating.

So, I would take that away- the anger and jealousy. But also, it's kind of a fun part of the story, so because of that, I wouldn't take it away in that sense.

I believe he really does have a lot of good qualities. I do think he's a good person. It's just hidden underneath a lot of trauma and misguidance. 

I don't know what I would add or take out. I kind of like how he is. And he's also young. It's kind of growing pains and he's figuring things out. I like where he's at. 

If you could craft Axel's story, is there anything in particular that you really wish to add in terms of his storyline or perhaps something that hasn't been explored yet that you would've loved to see? 

Yes, I believe there's a lot left to explore in that department. It will be cool to see where he goes after the end of the tournament since it was very satisfying how it ended with him standing up to Sensei Wolf.

It will be really interesting to see him finally realizing that about himself and what that confrontation does to him as a person as well as how it changes his perspective on martial arts and his interests.

It will also be cool to see his backstory- how he got to the title of this 'Karate-Machine' that he's described as, how he built up to that guy and everything before the Sekai Tekai.

Also the earlier days with Sensei Wolf and a little backstory of that. There's a lot to explore and I would be very excited for any opportunity that could bring that to life. 

I mean Cobra Kai is filled with such fascinating characters. So I'd love to know besides Axel, what other character would you have personally loved to play if given an opportunity or any character you wished Axel could have more of an interaction and bonding with? 

I really love Johnny Lawrence. He's one of my favourite characters in the show. I would have loved that just because he's so funny and I believe it would be really enjoyable.

There are a lot of other great characters and tons of people that I would have loved to have interacted with. It would have been fun to interact with Kreese. 

Just imagining Axel under any other dojo is a fun way to picture it- like being under adifferent Sensei- under Sensei Kreese, LaRusso, or Lawrence.

It would obviously be really fun to play with those ideas, to work with those guys from the original Karate Kid, and have more scenes with them. 

Although, I'm very pleased with who I got to work with. I loved working with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and Zara (Rayna Vallandingham). It was so fun to be part of a new dojo and that too of such a powerful one.

As far as a different character that I'd want to play- I don't know who I would be right for. It's really hard to say.

I mean this is it. We're finally at the end of Cobra Kai's journey. So, walk me through what kind of experience it was wrapping up the project and finally getting to say goodbye to the wonderful fellow cast and crew of COBRA KAI? 

It's an emotional thing because you spend so much time with these people. Acting is unlike any other job because you're not just sitting in an office and occasionally having like passing conversation with someone. 

A lot of times you're out and about with these people and you're spending a lot of time getting to know them because there's really not much else to do when you're not working. 

And when you're spending this much time together, you can get close to somebody.

I’ve been on projects for a day or two, or a week and you still feel like you're very close to someone. So, to spend almost three months on a project with this group of amazing people on such a special show makes it very emotional and hard to leave.

You get very accustomed to that lifestyle. You've built these very strong friendships. And there's this thing of knowing that you're never going to quite have that experience again. 

You might get to work with some of those people but each experience is unique and special because of the people that are a part of it so it's very bittersweet.

It's great to think about moving on to other projects. I'm sure when you've been on something for a long time- you're excited about graduating from it and moving on to new challenges and things in your life. Although, at the same time, it's definitely emotional. It's hard to leave everybody. 

But, that's also best case scenario, right? Like the fact that you get to be so disappointed about leaving something because you really miss everyone means that it was an extremely wonderful experience, which is something not everyone gets to say. 

So, yes, I was sad to leave, but also just so happy that it went as well as it did. And I felt very lucky to have made the connections that I have. 

Recently in some tweets, I believe the creators mentioned that they were aiming to make a spinoff about certain characters from within the show so might it be Axel? Can we perhaps expect an Axel Spinoff?

That would be so fun. I would love that and will be very open to it. As I was saying earlier, I think it will be really cool to explore either what happened beforehand with him in terms of what his backstory was or kind of where he ends up post-tournament and also just the rest of the Iron Dragons.

I mean there are a lot of storylines that you could follow up on. I know the writers are so smart and they're great at what they do so I'm sure they're going to come up with something great. 

I don't know if they are brainstorming spinoffs but if they are- I would be so happy to be a part of it in any way. And if they ask me to come back, I would love to work with them. 

Ending Note:- What's next for you, Patrick? What's your personal and professional life like after Cobra Kai? 

I have worked on a few things after 'Cobra Kai'. I have a small part in this show called 'Rambler' with Owen Wilson. It's going to be on Apple TV+. 

Then I also did a part in this film, "The Upside of Unrequited" which I have coming out this year so I'm very excited about those two projects.

Besides that, it's really just getting back in the flow. It's funny you go away for a period of time and then you have this thing come out and it's a great experience but it's almost like it's not your real life or your day-to-day life. 

It feels like you're sort of away at summer camp almost. Then you come back and you have to reintegrate yourself into a daily schedule.

So, I'm just enjoying spending time with my girlfriend, my friends, and the people I care about while looking for the next job and staying proactive by doing as much as I can to stay busy.

I’ve also been trying to cook a lot. I’ve been reading this cookbook and I'm really into it. And also staying active playing a lot of golf so that's been good. 

The final series of 'Cobra Kai' is now streaming on Netflix.