When it premiered in the summer of 2023, Netflix's live-action adaption of One Piece took the world by storm, so, of course, the countdown for One Piece season 2 has been on ever since.
We've been keeping our eyes peeled for confirmation of a season 2 release date, and it looks like there might be over a two-year wait between the release of season 1 and 2, as certain reports are suggesting that the second instalment will arrive at the end of 2025. Production continues in South Africa this month, with a wrap date falling at the end of January.
Adapting beloved manga and anime stories to a live-action format is no easy feat, but Netflix seems to have struck gold with One Piece. Based on the original story by Eiichiro Oda, who's also involved in the live-action series, One Piece follows the story of a young pirate named Monkey D. Luffy (played by Iñaki Godoy) who grew up dreaming of being a pirate and acquired supernatural elasticity (and a quasi-mortal weakness to water) after eating a devil fruit in his childhood. Now, he's determined to become the King of the Pirates and find Gold Roger's long-lost treasure, the One Piece.
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Season 1 of Netflix's One Piece introduced us to Luffy as he recruits the first members of the Straw Hat Pirates — namely Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji — following the manga and anime's initial chapters to a tee and enthralling audiences around the world.
The first season of the show spent a whooping eight weeks on Netflix's Global Top 10, having debuted at number 1 in 46 regions. The show amassed almost 40 million views in less than two weeks, which made it the number 1 title globally on the platform upon its release, so suffice it to say, expectations are high for season 2.
Keep reading for everything we know about Netflix's One Piece season 2 so far, or jump to your preferred section using the arrows below.
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→ Production and filming
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When is One Piece Season 2 coming out?
Netflix is yet to officially announce a release date for One Piece season 2, but One Piece actor Vincent Regan suggested in a late 2024 podcast interview that Netflix was targeting a Christmas 2025 release, and Netflix's TUDUM published a now-deleted article that said new episodes would arrive “later this year”.
Who is in the cast of One Piece Season 2?
Netflix's live-action One Piece stars Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. For now, these five are the only members of the Straw Hats crew — emphasis on for now. Since they are all series regulars, they will be reprising their roles for One Piece season 2.
Recurring characters are also expected to appear during season 2, though they have not been confirmed. Season 1's recurring casts included Morgan Davies as Koby, Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Vincent Regan as Vice Admiral Garp, Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Craig Fairbrass as Zeff, Peter Gadiot as Shanks, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida, Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, and many more.
However, other new faces are also joining the cast. As announced by Netflix on June 25, 2024, new cast members for One Piece season 2 include Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, and David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3. You can see how they all compare to their manga counterparts in the post below:
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Aside from the Baroque Works agents, Netflix also unveiled three new characters joining season 2 of One Piece on June 26, 2024. Scottish actor Clive Russell will be portraying Crocus, South African actor Werner Coetser will be portraying Dorry, and Brendan Murray will take on the role of Brogy.
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On June 27, 2024, Netflix unveiled yet another round of new faces joining the cast, announcing Callum Kerr as Smoker, Julia Rehwald as Tashigi, Rob Colletti as Wapol, and Ty Keogh (also known as Tyrone Keogh) as Dalton.
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In his announcement of season 2, Oda teased Doctor Kureha would be part of season 2 and showrunner Matt Owens seemed to have already dreamcast Jaimie Lee Curtis for the role — and the actor reciprocated the feelings.
“Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis, so we tried to start manifesting this dream of ours,” Owens told Deadline. “We’ll do all of it because, at this point, we’re writing for her — we really, really want her to come and play with us in Season 2.”
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However, seeing that Curtis began filming the long-anticipated sequel to Freaky Friday in Los Angeles in June 2024, it's now confirmed as a dreamcast. Speaking to Deadline in July 2024, Becky Clements, the president of Tomorrow Studios, which is after Netflix's One Piece, confirmed Lee Curtis had passed on the role due to scheduling conflicts.
“She loves the show,” Clements said of Lee Curtis, “[but] she has too many films and TV shows that she’s going into production on, so our production dates aren’t going to work. She definitely wanted to do it, but she’s got deals in first position, and it just became complicated.”
Still, Clements added that they had “found an amazing person” to take on the role of Doctor Kureha, and on August 21, 2024, that person was revealed to be Katey Sagal, whom you might recognise from Married... with Children, Futurama, and Sons of Anarchy. The same day, Mark Harelik was announced as Dr. Hiriluk.
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A day later, on August 22, 2024, Sendhil Ramamurthy was announced as Nefertari Cobra. "In the heart of The Desert Kingdom of Alabasta, where rebellion stirs and secrets are buried, stands a King like no other. Introducing Nefertari Cobra, the pillar of integrity in a kingdom at crossroads, his intro reads.
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On August 23, Netflix announced that the highly anticipated role of Miss Wednesday (aka Nefertari Vivi, IYKYK) will be played by none other than Bridgerton season 2 star Charithra Chandran. “I am so excited to be joining the cast of One Piece, and I feel incredibly grateful to Oda Sensei for trusting me with the role of Vivi,” Chandran said in an announcement Reel posted to the official One Piece Instagram account. “I know how much she means to all of you and I am going to work my hardest to do her justice and make you all proud.”
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“Her past is shrouded in secrecy but her skills as a Baroque Works agent are unmatched,” the One Piece IG account wrote in the reveal caption. Fans have been speculating about Chandran's casting as Miss Wednesday/Vivi for weeks.
On September 19, 2024, and after much fan anticipation, Netflix confirmed fan theories and announced Joe Manganiello as Mr. 0 (a.k.a. Crocodile) and Lera Abova as Nico Robin/Miss All Sunday, the current vice president of the Baroque Works and future Straw Hat Pirate extraordinaire. (IYKYK!)
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“Introducing Baroque Works’ most dangerous duo, Mr. 0 and Miss All-Sunday! With power cloaked in mystery and intentions hidden behind ominous smiles, these two will stop at nothing,” Netflix wrote about the characters.
That's not all; Netflix also released a peek at what the Tony Tony Chopper is going to look like in the upcoming season. Ever since the story arcs for One Piece season 2 were revealed and since Oda himself teased Chopper would indeed be appearing in the season, fans have been theorising about Chopper's appearance and it looks like Netflix has decided to go for the CGI route.
During 2024's Geeked Week, the streamer gave fans a first look at Chopper via a behind-the-scenes look at the first table read of the season, which you can watch below. "Yo, guys, I can't believe who's here to make their debut in season 2,” Iñaki Godoy teases at the end of the video, and the camera immediately focuses on Chopper's unmistakable silhouette, with his antlers and big fluffy hat. While we've only seen Chopper from the back, the fans seem to be loving the direction Netflix has gone for the beloved character and we'll surely hear more about who will be voicing him soon.
Her character will fight back against the male-dominated world of sports.
In the latest round of cast addition announcements, we had more names confirmed to be joining for season 2, including Sophia Anne Caruso as Miss Goldenweek, Mark Penwill as Chess, Anton David Jeftha as Kuromarimo, Rigo Sanchez as Monkey D. Dragon, Yonda Thomas as Igaram and James Hiroyuki Liao as Ipponmatsu.
Is season 2 of Netflix's One Piece confirmed?
Thanks to its amazing stats, Netflix officially greenlit One Piece for a second season just weeks after season one hit the streamer. One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda was in charge of delivering the news in a special video published on September 14, 2023, which you can watch above.
“It seems people around the world have been enjoying the show, which makes the hard work from the production team truly worth it,” Oda Sensei announced via Den Den Mushi. “Two weeks after the launch, I just received some great news… Netflix has decided to renew the show! The adventures of Iñaki and the live-action Straw Hats will continue onward.”
Has One Piece Season 2 started filming?
Yes! Netflix officially announced season 2 of One Piece had begun production in South Africa on July 1, 2024. The streamer broke the news with a cute video of the cast making their way to Cape Town, where the show is filmed, and reuniting onsite. You can watch it below:
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After Netflix's official announcement, plenty of cast members also took to their own social media channels to confirm filming is very much underway, with Mackenyu posting a picture of the shadow of the five main cast members in character in front of their own director's chairs.
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According to a previous report by The Streamr, season 2 of One Piece actually began filming in June 2024 in South Africa, though Netflix denied to comment at the time. Season 2 of One Piece will take a while to film months to film — Becky Clements confirmed to Deadline in July 2024 that filming is expected to go “into December.” Taz Skylar confirmed in an interview the cast will be filming in South Africa in the second half of the year for a “long stint.”
One Piece was one of the many shows affected by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which significantly delayed production. When Oda announced the season 2 renewal, he said: “It'll still take a while to get the scripts ready, so please be patient.” In an interview with Deadline, showrunner Matt Owens revealed the writers room for the show reopened in October 2023.
What will One Piece Season 2 be about?
Speaking to Deadline, showrunner Matt Owens teased the main theme for season 2 of One Piece will be “the challenge of leadership.” He added: “From Luffy’s perspective, he’s got his crew now, and they are setting out to the Grand Line. They’re doing the thing, and there are a lot of challenges that come with that responsibility. And that theme ties into some other stories and characters that I won’t give away just yet. But the challenge and leadership is a big theme for us in Season 2.”
Owens also teased Smoker, who was teased at the end of season 1, though not by name, will be part of season 2. “That character in the end is a very important character moving into our next season, and as Garp says to [Luffy] as well, you’re on your own. While Garp may have been the Marine who was testing Luffy, not every Marine is going to give him any leeway because of who his grandfather might be. And so we’re going to see this very powerful, very driven marine as a major antagonist moving forward in the story,” Owens explained.
Judging by the recent cast announcements, it seems like season 2 of Netflix's One Piece will adapt the Arabasta Arc, which focuses on the criminal network known as Baroque Works. (You might recall Mr. 7, a member of Baroque Works, tried to recruit Zoro in the first episode of season one.)
If Doctor Kureha is also part of season 2, we can expect some of the Drum Island Arc to also make it to our screens — Chopper, anyone? — and if Smoker is bound to also be a part of the season, that'd make it Loguetown Arc, so it looks like we are in for a bit of a mix this time around as the series wraps up the East Blue saga, which got started in season 1, and ventures into the Arabasta saga.
Netflix has released an official photo of One Piece's new scripts, teasing the first episode of season 2, which appears to be called ‘The Beginning and the End’. Matt Owens and Ian Stokes wrote the episode. The picture shows Zoro's new katana and Usopp's sniper goggles, which, in the anime and manga, they both acquire during the Loguetown Arc.
Oda himself confirmed the arc that will be adapted in season 2 of the One Piece live-action in a statement posted in August 2024. “The story will cover Loguetown, Reverse Mountain (Twin Cape), Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, and Drum Island! Think about it. Imagine how much it'll cost!” the mangaka teased, also reconfirming he's very much involved throughout the entire process of the creation.
"Whether it's the script or the cast, I continue to insist on this or that, which makes Matt, the showrunner, go ‘Aaarrgh!’ and Netflix go ‘Noooo!’ and Tomorrow Studios go ‘Whaaaat" as they all pull their hairs out. All that, even though we grew so close making season 1 but it's because we all share the same passion for this show!" Oda continued. “Just as with last season, they've gone out of their way to promise that they won't put the show out until I'm satisfied. This isn't in the contract, you know. It's a verbal pledge. I hope you can appreciate how amazing and determined they are for keeping their word.”
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How many episodes will One Piece Season 2 have?
Season 1 of One Piece features eight episodes in total, most spanning around 50 minutes, but there are rumours that season 2 will feature a more extended episode count, which would make sense given the variety of Arcs being teased. Speaking to Tudum, Joe Tracz, who was announced as One Piece's new co-showrunner in April 2024, fans can expect “an even more giant Season 2” — so, that could mean literally a longer runtime, bigger scale production, or, likely, a mix of both.
Is there a trailer for One Piece Season 2?
Since One Piece season 2 has not yet finished filming, there's no trailer for it at the time of writing. However, you can check out the trailer for season 1 here and watch some great bloopers in the video above.
This post will continue to be updated as more information about One Piece season 2 breaks.
This article originally appeared on Teen Vogue.
