Netflix’s live action One Piece just got more exciting! The streaming platform first announced that they were working on a live action version of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved One Piece in January 2020, although the creator said he’s been thinking about production since 2017. Last November, Netflix shared that they had found their main characters: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji. Several images have been shared of what appears to be their ship, the Going Merry, docked in Cape Town, South Africa, where filming is currently taking place. Today, we got more casting news and it looks really great! Let’s get into the One Piece live action new characters!
Who Are The One Piece Live Action New Characters?
Image via Twitter @piece_live
One Piece was created by Eiichiro Oda in 1997 and is still going on, making it one of the longest running manga series by volume count. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, an optimistic young man who wants to become King of the Pirates! Unfortunately, he ate the devil fruit, which gives him the ability to stretch like rubber but also has the unfortunate side effect of making him sink in water. He meets and befriends several characters who ultimately become his crew: sword master and former bounty hunter Roronoa Zoro, navigator Nami, sharpshooter Usopp, and high-kicking chef Sanji. These five make up the Straw Hat Pirates and they travel on the Grand Line, battling other pirates with the ultimate goal of helping Luffy become King of the Pirates.
The live action new characters include six people who play an important role in the beginning of the One Piece early story arcs, taking place in an area called the East Blue. Marty Adelstein (Prison Break, Teen Wolf) is part of the team that’s helping to produce the live action series and he stated in a video message at 2017’s Jump Festa that the Netflix series would start with East Blue like the manga and anime did and “broaden from there.” Below are the live action One Piece characters and a little description of the role they play in the manga and anime:
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Morgan Davies (The Evil Dead) as Koby: One of the first characters that Luffy meets, Koby works for the pirate Alvida until Luffy helps to free him. They later team up to help save Zoro.
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Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (The Sex Lives of College Girls) as Alvida: The first pirate antagonist that Luffy meets, Alvida is captain of the Alvida Pirates.
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McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) as Arlong: As captain of the Arlong Pirates, Arlong and his crew are fish-men who have taken over Nami’s village. He forces Nami to use her cartography skills for him to eventually conquer the seas.
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Jeff Ward (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.II) as Buggy: Buggy is a clown and is also a Devil Fruit user like Luffy. He ate the Chop Chop Fruit, which gives him the ability to split his body into pieces and reassemble them at will.
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Vincent Regan (Troy) as Garp: As Luffy’s grandfather, Garp is a Marine Vice Admiral and has a very contentious love-hate relationship with his grandson.
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Aidan Scott (Action Point) as Helmeppo: The son of Captain “Axe-Hand” Morgan, Helmeppo is a spoiled brat who antagonizes Zoro when he’s locked up and exploits his father’s status as a high-ranking captain.
These new additions will join Iñaki Godoy (Who Killed Sara?) as Luffy, Mackenyu (Pacific Rim: Uprising) as Zoro, Emily Rudd (Fear Street) as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson (Greenleaf) as Usopp, and Taz Skylar (Boiling Point) as Sanji. The company behind the series will be Tomorrow Studios, the same one who brought us TNT’s Snowpiercer and the upcoming live-action Cowboy Bebop, and One Piece publisher Shueisha.
Writers Matt Owens and Steven Maeda serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. Right now Netflix has agreed to ten episodes for the series, which is no where near enough to cover the 100+ volumes of One Piece. What’s likely to happen is that each season would probably cover a specific “Saga,” which includes several story arcs; Season 1 would likely cover the recruitment of Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji. While there’s no talk of a Season 2, Netflix is probably waiting to see how these ten episodes go before signing on for more.
The live-action One Piece doesn’t have a release date yet, but you can watch the anime on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
What are your thoughts on the One Piece live action new characters that were added? Do you think Netflix is doing justice to the One Piece characters? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image via Toei Animation