{"id":351834,"date":"2026-03-18T02:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/351834\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T02:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:29:12","slug":"one-piece-season-2-finale-season-3-casting-and-odas-advice-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/351834\/","title":{"rendered":"One Piece Season 2 Finale, Season 3 Casting and Oda\u2019s Advice, Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains spoilers from One Piece<\/a> season two.]<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Netflix<\/a>\u2019s 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\u2019t great, from Dragonball Evolution and Ghost in the Shell to Netflix\u2019s own Death Note and Cowboy Bebop \u2014 the latter, like One Piece, from Tomorrow Studios.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the series based on Eiichiro Oda\u2019s long-running manga \u2014 which has also been adapted as a similarly long-running anime from Toei Animation \u2014 was a resounding success among fans, becoming a near-instant hit for the streamer. That was due in large part to Oda\u2019s influence and involvement, as well as the years of work from executive producers and former showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMaeda would step down from his showrunner position following season one<\/a>, with Owens also departing after his work on season two, which he helmed with Joe Tracz. Following the show\u2019s season three renewal<\/a>, Tracz \u2014 who is currently in the midst of filming \u2014 was joined at the helm by writer and co-executive producer Ian Stokes, taking the Straw Hats into their next arc<\/a>: a battle against Baroque Works and its leader warlord Crocodile (Joe Manganiello) to save Princess Vivi\u2019s (Charithra Chandran) desert kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMatt 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\u2019s a huge world. It\u2019s epic and colorful, and seems like the kind of thing that you couldn\u2019t do, particularly when live-action adaptations don\u2019t always have the greatest track record in Hollywood,\u201d Tracz told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about how Maeda and Owens\u2019 groundwork will permeate future seasons. \u201cEverything we did in season two was building off the incredible work that Matt and Steve did in finding a way to not only adapt this series into live action, but to adapt it in a way that so beautifully spoke to both existing fans and people who had no idea this cool new show they were watching on Netflix was based on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the entirety of season two now available to stream on Netflix, THR unpacks with Tracz below how you adapt a series of One Piece\u2019s magnitude while balancing series needs with Hollywood interest after becoming the rare successful live-action anime adaptation. He also chat about those (known) season three castings and what the hopeful finale says about the entirety of season two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat did you learn about helming this series while working with Matt, and how did you carry that into your work with your new co-showrunner, Ian Stokes?<\/p>\n

\n\tOne Piece is a show that requires two showrunners. We could probably use six. (Laughs.) We film in South Africa with two units simultaneously. It\u2019s not like a leading and a following unit \u2014 a first unit and a second unit. We have two full units basically shooting two blocks simultaneously. It\u2019s a massive show, and it\u2019s the only way we can actually film it. Most days, Matt and I on season two, or even Ian in season three \u2014 you need to be not just two places at once, but 10 places at once. This is a show that requires multiple people at the helm. When I came into season two, I learned so much from how Matt and Steve figured out how to make this behemoth of a show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat will your collaboration with Ian bring tonally and creatively to season three?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFans will know Ian\u2019s work, even if they don\u2019t know [they know it] because he\u2019s been on the show from the beginning with Matt and Steve. He was there at the ground level. His stepping up was so natural because he was someone who knows this show inside and out from green light on. He has such an institutional memory of the show. Every season, he\u2019s been out here in Cape Town helping us out on set. His experience level is incredible, and he\u2019s such a great partner. We were obviously inheriting such a great cast and crew assembled by Matt and Steve in season one. So even as some faces come and go, there\u2019s a sense of legacy for the show that, as we enter season three, we\u2019re all carrying on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSeason two covers a lot of ground, and you\u2019ve previously confirmed you\u2019re going to focus on the Alabasta arc for season three. How are the writers thinking about how much ends up in a single season? How much of this adaptation will you be trying to do, or can you do, as a one-to-one arc adaptation each season?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe big decision going into season two was how much of the Alabasta saga or the Baroque Works saga would be covered. Do you try to fit that into eight episodes? You certainly could, but you\u2019d have to leave out a lot of stuff. You could do the speed run version of it, but if you did, there are things you\u2019d miss \u2014 the moments of the crew just being goofy with each other, which is such an important part of why we love them as a family, and the fights that challenge them in unique ways. We have the Unluckies this season, which I feel many fans probably expected us to cut. You could have had Sanji (Taz Skylar) in Little Garden not fighting an otter and a vulture with a machine gun, but if you cut that \u2014 if you lose the things that make One Piece special \u2014 is this still One Piece?<\/p>\n

\n\tSo the choice was made early on to let this season be the Grand Line season. It was partially driven by wanting to make sure we gave this incredible arc the breathing room to matter. You\u2019re not going to care about saving Alabasta if you just learned about it 45 minutes ago. And Vivi is a character with an incredible arc, so getting to know the different sides of her was important to us. It also meant that this season got to live in the adventure storytelling spirit. This is a travel season. Each of these islands will have a challenge for all of them, but each arc is structured around a specific Straw Hat, testing them in a different way. It\u2019s the answer to that barrel pledge. We\u2019re going to fulfill our dreams, we\u2019re going to leave home, we\u2019re going to go to a place none of us has ever been before. What happens when we get there? That sets up the quest at the end of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJacob Romero as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro in season two. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix \u00a9 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tWith how much there is to adapt \u2014 and the 12-season arc Tomorrow Studios producers Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements previously shared they hoped for \u2014 have you considered any contingency plans in case you can\u2019t do whatever your ideal number of seasons is?<\/p>\n

\n\tA lot of us have kids, so we just need to start training them to know what they need to be a showrunner so that they can just inherit it, so we can keep making One Piece even after I\u2019m too feeble to move. (Laughs.) Look, we all feel lucky to be working on a show we all care about, so I think we want to get to tell all the stories we love.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou have a few recognizable names in season two \u2014 Joe, Charithra, Katey Sagal, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and David Dastmalchian, to name a few. How did you get these folks to join you for season two?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fun thing about season two is that people know the show. Not knowing what that casting process was like in season one, I can imagine it was probably hard to try to sell. Season two meant we got to approach some big names and discover they were actually fans. David and Katey were wish list people for us. From day one, I wanted David to be Mr. 3 because I\u2019m such a huge fan. Everything he does is memorable and unique. I was just writing those scripts with him in mind. Then it turned out that not only was he game to play, but his son is a huge One Piece fan, and he came to set. He brought his whole family out. I\u2019d dreamed of him being Mr. 3, but it was a dream come true for him, too, because he was doing something that his son got to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA show with this level of success can lead to increased interest within Hollywood. Have you seen that yet among interested performers, and how do you avoid stunt casting with something like this, where there\u2019s so much also riding on the right choice with fans?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWe have incredible casting agents [Junie Lowry Johnson and Libby Goldsteini], who, I think, are never looking to do stunt casting. It\u2019s always who\u2019s the best actor for a certain role. Mr. 3 and Dr. Kureha, we knew those roles would be ones we would love to have David and Katey come play with us, and we were lucky enough to have them. For Charithra, I\u2019d never seen Bridgerton, but when I watch casting tapes, I never watch what an actor has done before because I don\u2019t want to be biased. So I remember watching Charithra\u2019s audition and being like, \u201cShe is such a star. I made an incredible discovery!\u201d (Laughs) And her role is so tricky because she\u2019s playing two roles for us \u2014 who we meet her as and who we discover she is, and she plays them both so well. So it\u2019s never stunt casting. It\u2019s often a case of me being in a One Piece-world tunnel and not knowing that someone\u2019s a star of one of the world\u2019s biggest shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve already announced Xolo Maridue\u00f1a<\/a> and Cole Escola for season three. What most impressed you about them in their roles \u2014 either from their auditions or anything they\u2019ve already filmed?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI love Cole. In 2011, we worked on a theater project together. They did a reading of mine, and they\u2019ve been someone whom I always wanted to work with again. Like with Katey and with David, it\u2019s how do I get Cole into something? Bon Clay is just the perfect role for them. Obviously, we\u2019re talking season three, and that casting is already out there, but I just want to say that I can\u2019t wait until people can see Cole\u2019s version of Bon Clay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you completed casting for season three?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re mostly cast, and two months into filming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLike last season, there are scenes that feel ripped from the manga, but that unfold in slightly different ways. One is Nami\u2019s (Emily Rudd) response to Luffy (I\u00f1aki Godoy) messing up her coat on Drum Island. Another is Zoro (Mackenyu) and his response to Mr. 3 (Dastmalchian) on the wax Candelabra, which feels like it amps up his defiance and valiance. How are you thinking about adapting these moments\u00a0 \u2014 when you lean into the comedy on the page versus the emotional resonance?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWe messed up the coat in a different way. (Laughs.) We knew we wanted that image of the coat, and when the story took us away from how it happened in the manga, we still wanted to nod to it. We found a way to get that sleeve ripped off and have Nami call Luffy on that. So even when something in the story takes a different direction, we still want to honor that. For the Mr. 3 and Zoro moment, you could play that as comedic. There\u2019s a version in which Zoro has a vain desire to be remembered. But Zoro has something he stands for. He knows who he is, and even though Mr. 3 wants these three to die scared, Zoro isn\u2019t going to give in to his fear. <\/p>\n

\n\tAt first, he tries to cut his legs off, and he\u2019s willing to carry those scars the rest of our series. He\u2019s showing that there is nothing he wouldn\u2019t sacrifice, and when it seems like he\u2019s going to be stuck in this forever, he makes a choice not to let Mr. 3 win emotionally. He\u2019s going to give this dramatic pose because that\u2019s the legacy he wants. What is also important about that moment is that it inspires Vivi, who is on the verge of giving up. She\u2019s just been told that things in her home country are even worse than they were when she left. Obviously, we would never adapt that moment without Zoro striking that pose, but he actually ends up also inspiring Vivi to keep fighting.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L to R) Taz Skylar as Sanji, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, In\u0303aki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCasey Crafford\/Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tThat thread of earnestness in the plot and character development definitely makes its way into the finale. How did you ultimately land on that Drum Island-Chopper-Vivi arc being the endpoint for season 2 versus going farther?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMatt and Steve made a great decision in season one, which is to end the season with the barrel pledge \u2014 the Straw Hats all pledging their friendship and announcing their dreams to each other. In the manga, it comes a little later, but they moved it to be the emotional climax of that first season, and it was cut so wonderfully, with flashes of their childhoods and the memories of what inspired those dreams. So we knew we had a lot to live up to in season two. We wanted a climax that was as emotionally moving and memorable as possible, and Oda gave us that with the cherry blossom snow. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Chopper and Hiriluk (Mark Harelik) story is so much about saying nothing is impossible, which is a mantra that is very close to Luffy\u2019s heart, too. It\u2019s a sense that this person who\u2019s no longer with us, his life\u2019s work is being completed. He dreamed of giving this broken community a vision of hope that seemed impossible. He does that, and in doing so, he also inspires our characters. Just as that barrel pledge in season one was an emotional climax where characters got to come together on deck to experience something greater than themselves \u2014 a sense of community, belonging, and inspiration. The cherry blossom snow, the pink snow, does that for them. It\u2019s what unites them and sends them off on this next mission to help Vivi, setting another course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat shot rendering the Cherry Blossom tree using the pink clouds is stunning. It\u2019s really emotional.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a drawing, it\u2019s so easy to draw clouds that look like a tree. In live-action, it\u2019s so much harder. The word we got from Oda that I just loved and now always use is, \u201cThink poetry.\u201d So, as we looked at various versions of that tree, some were really literal. But the permission to embrace what\u2019s poetic about that moment really helped us find the best possible version of that scene.<\/p>\n

\n\tGoing full circle, you are obviously already working on season three. Do you anticipate you\u2019ll be back as co-showrunner for four or beyond if you get it?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI love the story. I would love to keep being able to tell the story. I think the bigger question is, will we get to keep telling the story? All of us here have the appetite to keep telling it. There are arcs we\u2019ll be sitting on set like, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be amazing to get to this moment? Wouldn\u2019t it be amazing during this arc?\u201d That\u2019s really a question for people watching the show who can keep giving us a thumbs up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tOne Piece season two is currently streaming on Netflix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains spoilers from One Piece season two.] When Netflix\u2019s live-action One Piece adaptation arrived in 2023,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,1868,58711,282],"class_list":["post-351834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-netflix","tag-one-piece","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}