One Piece season 2 is now filming: Everything we know so far

We have some incredible news to share with fans of One Piece, Netflix's live-action adaptation of the incredibly popular manga by Eiichiro Oda! At the end of June, Netflix confirmed One Piece season 2 just started production in South Africa.

The streamer announced the filming start in a new video that shows the main stars of One Piece, including Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero, and Taz Skylar, returning to set to get to work on the new season of the Netflix original series.

Check out the production announcement, via Netflix:

Netflix did not reveal how long the cast and crew will be working on One Piece season 2. Production listings indicate filming will last through the end of the year, but it could take even longer than that depending on how things go.

Of course, Deadline already reported One Piece season 2 is coming in 2025.

In addition, Netflix also revealed some important casting news for season 2. They confirmed several cast members joining the series for season 2 and teased more casting announcements are on the way.

Let's talk more about One Piece season 2!

One Piece renewed for season 2 but not season 3 yet

On Sept. 14, Netflix announced that the live-action series had been renewed for a second season. This renewal comes only two weeks after the first season’s premiere. In a special video, creator and illustrator of the One Piece manga series Eiichiro Oda shared the great news of the show’s renewal.

One Piece season 3 has not been officially ordered, but there's a chance that we could see the renewal in the near future. It makes a lot of sense to film seasons back to back, especially since we know that there are plans for up to 12 seasons of the show.

One Piece executive producers Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements spoke with Deadline in September 2023 and said that they have “hopes for 12 seasons."

Here's what Clements said:

"We’re over 1,080 chapters at this point in 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. It really could go on and on and on."

If they do a season every 18 months, we're looking at 20 years of One Piece. Is that realistic? No.

One Piece season 2 coming to Netflix in 2025

With production starting in June 2024, we have an idea of when the new season could be released in 2025. Our guess is that we're looking at a summer 2025 release at the earliest, but a fall 2025 release is more likely. A fall release would give the new episodes enough time to be edited to perfection in post-production.

You have to also factor in that Netflix has huge shows reportedly coming in 2025. Stranger Things season 5 will premiere in 2025, along with Wednesday season 2. Those are two of the biggest shows of all time. Depending on how Netflix chooses to roll out its biggest shows, One Piece season 2 could be affected. We'll just have to wait and see, but we're thinking it will be at least

Release prediction: Summer or Fall 2025

One Piece season 1 ending

After Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates defeat Arlong and his pirate crew at Arlong Park, they set sail on the Going Merry to the Grand Line in search of the One Piece. Luffy now has the highest bounty in the East Blue ($30,000,000 berry) putting him and his crew in great danger.

The last scene of the first season shows a mysterious man burning Luffy’s wanted poster. If you read the manga series or watched the anime, you’d know who this character is. It’s none other than Smoker, a powerful Marine captain. It looks like Luffy and his crew will be meeting Smoker very soon. This can’t be good…

Which parts of the manga could One Piece season 2 cover?

Netflix nor the creative team behind One Piece have revealed what the second season will be about. However, our guess is that it’ll cover the Loguetown Arc (the sixth and last story of the East Blue Saga) and the Arabasta Saga, the second saga of the manga. Once we know for sure what One Piece season 2 will be about, and which parts of the manga it’ll cover, we’ll be sure to let you know right away.

Owens tells Deadline that the “challenge of leadership” is a really big theme for the second season.

One Pice season 2 cast

We already knew that Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero, and Taz Skylar would return for One Piece season 2.

Right after production started, Netflix shared a list of 11 new cast members (over multiple days!) who will be in One Piece season 2. The streamer also confirmed a few returning cast members, too!

Here's the full list of the confirmed cast for One Piece season 2:

• Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy
• Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro
• Emily Rudd as Nami
• Jacob Romero as Usopp
• Taz Skylar as Sanji
• Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida
• Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown
• Vincent Regan as Vice Admiral Garp
• Morgan Davies as Koby
• Aidan Scott as Helmeppo
• Steven Ward as Dracule Mihawk
• Peter Gadiot as Shanks
• Stevel Marc as Yasopp
• David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3
• Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine
• Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5
• Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9
• Smoker as Callum Kerr
• Tashigi as Julia Rehwald
• Wapol as Rob Colletto
• Dalton as Ty Keogh
• Werner Coetser as Dorry
• Brendan Murray as Brogy
• Clive Russell as Crocus

Lastly, we can expect to see new characters like Doctor Kureha and Tony Tony Chopper. In the manga and anime, Doctor Kureha is an elderly doctor who works on Drum Island. Owens told Deadline that Doctor Kureha is a “character who is coming up in our story.” When it comes to Tony Tony Chopper, he eventually joins the Straw Hat Pirates and becomes the doctor of the crew in the manga and anime.

Steven Maeda, who helped develop the live-action series and showrun the first season, is believed to have given up his showrunning duties for the upcoming second season. However, he will remain as an executive producer on season 2. Matt Owens, who co-developed and ran the first season with Maeda, is set to return as showrunner of the second season. He'll also be executive producing again for season 2. Joining him with showrunning duties this season is Joe Tracz. Tracz is also signed on as an executive producer for season 2. His most recent work was on the hit Disney+ fantasy series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, where he wrote two episodes.

Jamie Lee Curtis could be playing Doctor Kureha in One Piece season 2

After the show’s renewal, fans began to dream cast who they want to see play the new characters in the upcoming second season. Their main pick for the Doctor Kureha character was Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Now, it looks like Curtis is in agreeance.

On Sept. 22, Jamie Lee Curtis expressed her support in taking on the role of Doctor Kureha in the live-action series through an Instagram post. The caption to the post reads, “ONCE the STRIKE against the greed of the AMTPT is SETTLED with a FAIR CONTRACT, I will lobby along with the growing fan frenzy to become Doctor Kureha in @onepiecenetflix.”

Well, it looks like fans and Curtis’s wish might be coming true because the show’s showrunner Matt Owens just gave his approval. He wrote in the comment section of Curtis’s post, “Mommy dearest, that’s why we sent you that figure! No need to lobby. Once we get what we deserve and get back to work let’s talk!”

Owens tells Deadline that there haven’t been any “real conversations” but that he’s ready to sit down and talk with Curtis about casting her for the role.

Fingers crossed, everything goes well and we have our new Doctor Kureha.

Stay tuned to Netflix Life for more news and coverage on One Piece season 2!