Cobra Kais Chad McQueen Tribute Explained

The end of Cobra Kai season 6, episode 6 came with a tribute to actor Chad McQueen, a The Karate Kid star who unfortunately passed away earlier in 2024. The Netflix series has consistently paid homage to the classic 1980s film series, with a variety of actors brought back to the screen to reprise their roles. McQueen was not among those who joined the cast of Cobra Kai, but the spinoff has never forgotten what this actor brought to The Karate Kid‘s Cobra Kai gang. Now, the mid-season premiere of season 6 has paid tribute to McQueen’s life and career.




McQueen played Dutch in The Karate Kid (1984), a particularly nasty member of Johnny Lawrence’s gang at Cobra Kai dojo. In addition to this, McQueen was known for his roles in action movies like Martial Law and Dead Line. His final acting role was in 2001’s The Fall, at which point he shifted his focus to his racing career, a passion McQueen shared with his famed father, Steven McQueen. The memorable Karate Kid star eventually started his own racing company, McQueen Racing, LLC, which kept him from ever returning to Cobra Kai.


Chad McQueen Died In September 2024 & Receives A Tribute In Cobra Kai

Chad McQueen Played Butch in The Karate Kid


McQueen passed away on September 11, 2024. His death was announced via his wife, Jeanie, and children in a statement to Variety, which emphasized the man’s commitment to his family and life filled with “love and dedication.” Though McQueen never appeared in Cobra Kai, Netflix included its own tribute to the actor and racer at the end of season 6, episode 6, “Benvingust a Barcelona,” which was released on the streaming platform on November 15, 2024. The tribute featured an image of McQueen as Dutch, along with the touching line “Cobra Kai never dies.”

Why Chad McQueen Never Appeared In Cobra Kai

Johnny and his friends in Cobra Kai


Cobra Kai has featured a great many The Karate Kid actors, and the majority of Johnny Lawrence’s old dojo friends appeared in earlier seasons. While McQueen’s Dutch was mentioned, it was revealed that the character was serving a prison sentence, which explained why he wasn’t part of the Cobra Kai gang’s reunion. According to showrunner Jon Hurwitz (via X), hope had been maintained for years that McQueen would get a cameo at some point in the series. Hurwitz even met with McQueen to plan this, and the actor was reportedly excited and eager to appear in Cobra Kai season 6.

Hurwitz revealed that an episode featuring McQueen’s Butch was written for
Cobra Kai
season 6, part 2, which is why the character was mentioned in part 1.

Unfortunately, McQueen was ultimately unable to join the cast of Cobra Kai when the time came to shoot his episode. Hurwitz said that “at the end of the day, it wasn’t meant to be.” McQeen’s schedule was consumed by his true passion, and though he quit racing back in 2006, his energy in his final years was spent on his company in the industry.


Cobra Kai’s Creators & Stars On Chad McQueen’s Death

Chad McQueen Will Be Missed

Johnny Lawrence and his gang in The Karate Kid

Though McQueen was never able to join the cast of Corba Kai, it’s clear that his legacy had a lasting impact. Hurwitz’s tribute on X noted that, during the show’s early days of conception, Dutch’s character was used as a reference point for Cobra Kai dojo’s nastiness. He went on to say that McQueen and his character would “always be remembered as the badass’ badass in the Miyagiverse,” a sentiment shared by another star of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai with whom the late actor worked.

“He marched to the beat of his own drum and always made me laugh,” Zabka said, ending his post with “RIP Chadwick — my dear friend & Cobra Kai brother 4 ever.”


It seems the star who was the closest to McQueen was William Zabka, who plays Johnny in Cobra Kai. Zabka took to Instagram to pay his respects to McQueen, whom he said he had reconnected with in recent years. “He marched to the beat of his own drum and always made me laugh,” Zabka said, ending his post with “RIP Chadwick — my dear friend & Cobra Kai brother 4 ever.” It’s clear that McQueen was an important figure to those working within the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai franchise, as evidenced by the touching tribute included in season 6, memorializing his performance as Dutch forever.

Source: Variety, X, Instagram