One Piece showrunner Matt Owens shared what fans should expect to see from Luffy in the next installment of Netflix’s hit live-action adaptation.
In an interview with Deadline, Owens opened up about the overall theme for One Piece Season 2, revealing that the weight of Luffy’s role as the captain of the Straw Hats would be highlighted in a lot of the stories they have in store for the next season. "Without saying too much, and speaking to any new characters that we might meet, I would say a major theme that we’re working with in Season 2 is the challenge of leadership," he said. The showrunner also teased the difficulties that the fan-favorite pirate crew will face in Season 2, as they finally enter the treacherous Grand Line.
Owens continued, "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."
Writing for One Piece Season 2 Has Begun
Following the end of the Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike, pre-production on One Piece Season 2 has finally resumed, with Owens confirming that the writers' room is already up and running. At the moment, their priority is to complete the Season 2 scripts in order to move ahead with the rest of pre-production, including set building and scheduling. Owens admitted that the writing is "still going to take some time," since they were only able to finish a couple of story outlines prior to the strike.
It remains unclear if the creative team is planning to cover the entire Alabasta saga in Season 2 due to its massive scale and scope. So far, the only confirmed arcs that will surely be adapted into the live-action series are the Loguetown and Drum Island arcs from the manga and anime. Both story arcs will serve as an introduction to a number of important characters including Captain Smoker and Tony Tony Chopper. Due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Netflix hasn’t started casting for One Piece Season 2 yet. Despite this, Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis has already expressed her intention to lobby for the role of Dr. Kureha once the actors' strike ends.
The live-action One Piece is based on Eiichiro Oda’s long-running manga. The series follows the story of up-and-coming outlaw Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), who dreams of finding Gold Roger’s long-lost treasure in hopes of becoming the King of the Pirates. Season 1 features Luffy enlisting the first members of his crew including expert thief/navigator Nami (Emily Rudd), bounty hunter/master swordsman Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), ship cook Sanji (Taz Skyler) and shipwright/sharpshooter Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson).
All eight episodes of One Piece Season 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Deadline
