Cobra Kai Star To Play A Teen Ghost In Comic Book Adaptation

A star from the hit series Cobra Kai is moving on to lead her own series, which has been ordered straight to series, and follows the life of a teenage ghost.

By Britta DeVore | Published

cobra kai

Peyton List is leaving the Netflix dojo behind and heading to haunt the halls of Paramount+. The Cobra Kai star has been tapped to star in a new series titled School Spirits which will act as an adaptation of the upcoming graphic novel penned by Nate and Megan Trinrud and Maria Nguyen. In the series, List will star as a teenage girl trapped floating around in the afterlife. Soon, she finds her calling in digging into her own bizarre and unsolved disappearance. But for a task this big, she’ll need some help. The teenage ghost will find an unlikely group of friends and fellow wanderers – other students from different high schools who are also toeing the line between worlds.

Although it hasn’t been given a release date on the streaming service, things are heating up for the paranormal TV show with Max Winkler attached to direct the show’s pilot. Another big name in showbiz, Oliver Goldstick, who fans of teenage staple, Pretty Little Liars will recognize for his time as an executive producer on the who-done-it show, will do the same for School Spirits. Goldstick will be joined by the Trinruds and Nguyen, with the graphic novel trio adapting the screenplay. As of right now, no one has been announced to be starring alongside the Cobra Kai favorite. 

Prior to her time on the Netflix smash hit series, List’s credits range from rom-coms including 27 Dresses to comedies like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and even true-crime centered dramas such as last year’s Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman. As a major true-crime fan, I’ve never even heard of this movie in which List stars as the titular serial killer and now I can’t wait to watch it… But I digress. Moving more into the public eye, List landed her role in Cobra Kai in the second season as a recurring character, but by the most recent season, her character, Tory Nichols has become a staple in the series. As of right now, we know that List will appear in the fifth installment of The Karate Kid spin-off series, but it’s unclear as to whether her involvement in School Spirits will get in the way of filming future seasons. 

What started as a YouTube show in 2018 was picked up for a series order by Netflix in 2020 and from there, it was all crane kicks and leg sweeps – or rather critical sweeps. The series picks up over 30 years after the events of The Karate Kid’s All-Valley Tournament. It follows the now grown-up characters as they open their own dojos and clash against their previous karate instructors. Although it’s a comedy series, it also tackles grief, trauma, abuse, and many other hard-hitting topics which is part of what’s made it such a hit for the streaming platform. 

Cobra Kai sees Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles from the original films as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively. The series also stars Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, and Vanessa Rubio with Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith also reprising their roles from the original films. All seasons are now available for streaming on Netflix.