When a show as popular as One Piece has such massive success in a Live Action adaptation, it’s safe to say Netflix is going to capitalize. They’ve greenlit season two, and the writers have just gone into the process of writing and refining the scripts. So, with the second season of One Piece live-action in production after all this time, here’s everything known about it at this moment.
When Will One Piece Live Action Season Two Release?
There’s no official word on a release date yet for season two, but One Piece will be back around 2025 at the earliest. With the Hollywood writers’ strike over and the actors reaching a deal to end their strike. Writers for the show are now in writing rooms, and Matt Owens, one of the head writers, says they have most of season two written already. Now it’s just a matter of going back in and editing, seeing what works and what doesn’t in the first season to capitalize on it.
Even though it’s possible, don’t expect that the series will come any time before late 2025 at the earliest. The series takes a lot to make, with plenty of practical and CGI with elaborate designs. It’ll take a little bit, but after seeing the first season results will be worth the wait.
Returning Cast
All of the Straw Hat Pirates are signed on for multiple seasons, so there are no worries about their return in season two. The same goes for the other main cast like Koby and Helmeppo, with Garp likely coming with them. As far as any characters outside of the Straw Hats and Marines, Buggy and Alvida look to be the only pirates coming back for the second season. This makes a lot of sense considering Loguetown is likely the opener, so they have a good part to play in the premiere.
New Characters
One Piece is a series constantly bringing in new characters to interact with the Straw Hats. There are already a few teases of those yet to come throughout, like Baroque Works and a tease of Smoker at the end. Despite no news on whether these roles have been cast or anyone in mind yet, fans have been putting their picks forward on social media and Reddit with some pretty good suggestions. Most notably, actress Jamie Lee Curtis and writer Matt Owens have openly talked about casting her for the part of Doctor Kureha in Drum Island!
Other characters are going to have big shoes to fill for whichever actor gets the role. Vivi is going to be a long-running character, as well as quite a few Baroque Works members. That’s before even getting into how difficult Chopper will be to bring to life, which is a whole other subject.
The Arabasta Saga
Season two will probably be the entire Arabasta saga, one of One Piece’s longer series of arcs. Arabasta is a desert kingdom about a fourth of the way through the Grand Line, and the Straw Hats will end up in a political conspiracy. Baroque Works is looking to overthrow the monarchy of the country, inciting a revolution among their people for an attempted coup. The Princess, Nefertari Vivi, infiltrates the group to find out who the leader is but has to ask the Straw Hats for help.
This saga covers a whole hell of a lot of story and introduces way more of the Grand Line. Logia and Zoan Type Devil Fruits will debut, with Logia allowing users to become elements or substances. Zoans. meanwhile play a huge part in the story of Tony Tony Chopper, as they allow users to take on the form of animals or other creatures.
Baroque Works
There may be a few cuts from this mysterious organization, depending on how things look for the series budget. Some of the characters are just silly, like Lassoo the dog-cannon, and might not translate to live action as well. Then there’s the practicality of some things, like Mr. 3’s Wax-Wax powers which could be a little odd-looking if they go the CGI route.
The greatest challenge for Baroque Works is going to be the casting. The characters are incredibly diverse and take part, and some are a little more ridiculous than others. Bon Clay is going to require massive charisma, and Crocodile needs the presence to present himself as a menace. One of the most important parts is finding actors who will be available for years to come because some of these characters will be around for a while. That also means the casting for Nico Robin better be perfect, or fans may riot.
Will the Giants Appear in Netflix Live Action?
There’s no way the Giant Pirates Captains Dorry and Broggy won’t appear in Netflix’s One Piece. They’re far too essential to Usopp’s dream of becoming a brave warrior like them, and the giants won’t be hard to pull off with modern camera tricks. It’s even possible they could be done entirely practical, just using camera angle tricks like the Lord of the Rings movies used for their Hobbits.
The more concerning part of making Little Garden come to life is going to be the local wildlife of dinosaurs and monsters. That place is a jungle of terror when the Straw Hats arrive, so seeing things go full Jurassic Park would be pretty cool.
Tony Tony Chopper
Of course, this is what most fans are worried about because Tony Tony Chopper is the sweetest angel to ever live and fans will kill for him. There’s no question that Chopper will make his appearance this season, but it’s a real matter of how the character comes to life that has fans questioning. There haven’t been many hits from the creators of the show just yet either, but they have a few options for how to go about it.
The first obviously is the Pokemon: Detective Pikachu method where Chopper would be fully CGI. That might be the easiest way to go about it, but then there’s the issue of his design working in the context of the real world. The other option is puppetry, which could be an awesome way to make Chopper practical. The downside, it would require an insane amount of work to put scenes together and for all of his transformations.
How Far Will One Piece Season Two Cover?
With everything considered for pacing, season two will likely cover the end of the Arabasta saga. Depending on how it’s done, and how many episodes the second season can get, the Straw Hats could make it to Skypiea before the end of the season. It’s probably a better idea to keep Baroque Works as the overall villain of the season though, so Enel may not get his chance to appear just yet.
Whenever One Piece season two does come out, it’s going to have fans in an uproar. The series has done amazing numbers on Netflix even after a month on the platform, and fan hype is through the roof. One Piece breaks the live-action adaptation curse for anime, and it’s only going to keep doing it as the seasons continue!
