‘One Piece’ Season 2: Release Date Speculation, News, Cast, and More

Just two weeks after the launch of One Piece on Netflix, the streaming platform renewed the series for Season 2. Amassing more than 37 million viewers in its first two weeks, the iconic manga and anime series proved to be a massive success, so renewal news doesn’t come as a big surprise to fans.

So what’s in store for One Piece Season 2? And how soon can fans expect the series to return to the small screen? Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming season. Note, spoilers ahead for Season 1. 

One Piece Season 2 Is Coming

With how One Piece impressed longtime fans of the manga and anime series with its live-action adaptation on Netflix, the show was a sure renewal from Netflix.

Created by Steven Maeda, Matt Owens, and the manga’s creator, Eiichiro Oda, for Netflix, One Piece is set in a world where pirates and marines fight for control over the Blue Sea. A young boy named Monkey D. Luffy aspires to be the next pirate king even if he doesn’t know how to swim, which is a side effect of the magical “Gum Gum” devil fruit he ate as a child. Instead, the magical fruit gave Luffy an extremely stretchy body. Luffy travels through the sea looking for the famous “one piece” treasure of the Pirate King Gold Roger.

Netflix has already touted the success of One Piece’s first season on its Top 10 list. For two weeks since its premiere, One Piece became one of the streaming service’s most popular shows. It also broke records previously held by Stranger Things, quickly becoming one of the most successful shows on Netflix in 2023.

As the renewal took place at a time when both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike against the AMPTP, it might take a while before production can start. However, the show’s producers revealed ahead of the renewal that the scripts were already written for One Piece Season 2.

One Piece Cast

One Piece Season 2 will see the return of the Straw Hat crew as they continue their adventure. This includes Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Zoro, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Emily Rudd as Nami, and Jacob Romero as Usopp.

We’ll also expect the Marines from Season 1 to come back in Season 2. This includes Vincent Regan as Vice Admiral Garp, Morgan Davies as Koby, and Aidan Scott as Helmepp. There are also some villains coming back for One Piece Season 2 like Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown and Ilia Isorelys Paulino as Captain Alvida.

But that’s just the returning characters as there will definitely be new faces making their live-action debuts for One Piece Season 2. In Oda’s announcement video confirming the show’s renewal, he also teased that a familiar reindeer doctor will be making their debut. The doctor in question? Dr. Tony Tony Chopper himself! And if Tony Tony Chopper is making his live-action debut, the show already has a big contender to play Chopper’s mentor Dr. Kureha.

Oscar winner and One Piece fan Jamie Lee Curtis has long expressed interest in playing Dr. Kureha. Owens revealed to Deadline that he sent Curtis a figure of Dr. Kureha following her Oscars win with a note that said, “Congratulations on your statue, here’s another one to put next to it. Hope to speak to you soon.”

Season 1 also teased in a pre-credits scene of its finale that the Marine Captain Smoker may be coming. The Straw Hat crew may also be up against new enemies, like the pirate warlord Crocodile and his second-in-command Nico Robin along with the rest of the crew from Baroque Works. As well as Crocodile’s target, Princess Vivi.

One Piece Season 2 Plot

One Piece was praised for its faithfulness to the source material. In that case, we can expect One Piece Season 2 to be the Alabasta Saga storyline.

In the manga and the anime series, Luffy and the Straw Hat crew make their last supply preparations in the East Blue port of Lougetown. It’s also the place where the pirate king Gold D. Roger was killed. As they prepare to leave, they eventually meet Captain Smoker, who vows to go after them into the Grand Line.

When the Straw Hat crew make it to the Grand Line, their journey to find the treasure takes a detour when they meet Princess Vivi, who was exiled from her kingdom of Arabasta. The kingdom was manipulated by the warlord Crocodile into thinking that he is the hero they need. The Straw Hat crew is unaware that Crocodile controls a criminal organization called Baroque Works. This is also the same organization that tried to recruit Zoro in the pilot episode of Season 1.

In the Season 1 finale, Luffy became the “most wanted” person and has a 30,000,000 Berries reward for his capture. Captain Alvida overhears Buggy’s vow that he’ll kill Luffy.

What Else to Expect

Season 1 covered a lot of the source material, with 100 chapters all in eight episodes. Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein told Deadline that they are hoping to get 12 seasons. The 12 seasons could cover the 1,080 chapters Oda has done for the manga.

“We have plans with Matt Owens for how we would break multiple seasons, and I think even if we did six seasons, we would probably only use up half of the chapters of the manga,” said Adelstein. “It really could go on and on.”

Tomorrow Studios President Becky Clements also said that more One Piece episodes could arrive a year away from any strike-ending negotiations.

“Somewhere between a year and 18 months, we could be ready for air,” Clements told Variety. “In our subsequent calls post-launch, we have been told that we have exceeded expectations, which is also fantastic.”

Owens also went on to share how determined they are to get Curtis on board for Season 2.

“We’re trying to manifest it,” said the One Piece co-showrunner. “I will take her out to dinner, we’ll talk about it. We’ll do all of it because we at this point, we’re writing for her – we really, really, want her to come and play with us in Season 2.”

One Piece Season 2 Release Date

Netflix has yet to announce a release date for One Piece Season 2. It will heavily depend on when the SAG-AFTRA strike comes to an end. Fortunately, the WGA strike has come to an end, so writing on the second season can begin. However, filming will not take place until the SAG-AFTRA strike is over.

Not to worry, though, fans can get ahead of the show plot-wise with the manga and the anime series. Even better, Netflix also carries the One Piece anime series. And while there’s no trailer yet for One Piece Season 2 (as filming hasn’t taken place), Netflix has been sharing featurettes that even include the anime’s Japanese voice actors reacting to the scenes. So it’s a little something to help hold fans over until the Season 2 return!