‘One Piece’ Boss on Season 2’s Hopeful Ending and Manga Scenes Changes — and Season 3 Castings

Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text [This story contains spoilers from One Piece season two.] When Netflix ’s live-action One Piece adaptation arrived in 2023, the odds of it launching a global franchise seemed low. The success rate within the pipeline of Western anime-to-live-action adaptations wasn’t great, from Dragonball Evolution and Ghost in the Shell to Netflix’s own Death Note and Cowboy Bebop — the latter, like One Piece , from Tomorrow Studios. But the series based on Eiichiro Oda’s long-running manga — which has also been adapted as a similarly long-running anime from Toei Animation — was a resounding success among fans, becoming a near-instant hit for the streamer. That was due in large part to Oda’s influence and involvement, as well as the years of work from executive producers and former showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda. Related Stories TV 'Stranger Things' Animated Spinoff Gets One-Day Theatrical Preview Business After Dropping Warners Deal, Netflix's Ted Sarandos Shifts Focus to Europe Maeda would step down from his showrunner position following season one , with Owens also departing after his work on season two, which he helmed with Joe Tracz. Following the show’s season three renewal , Tracz — who is currently in the midst of filming — was joined at the helm by writer and co-executive producer Ian Stokes, taking the Straw Hats into their next arc : a battle against Baroque Works and its leader warlord Crocodile (Joe Manganiello) to save Princess Vivi’s (Charithra Chandran) desert kingdom. “Matt and Steve did the hard work in season one of proving that you could adapt One Piece successfully into live action, which is something that I feel was no short order. It’s a huge world. It’s epic and colorful, and seems like the kind of thing that you...